Agnieszka Szymańska: The Complexity of Relations Between the Media and Politics
The presence of the mass media differentiates modern social and political reality from that which appeared in the past. Through their information management[1] the mass media manipulate information within the limits of the society, whose members - rather sporadically having access to political information without the medium of the mass media - are to some extent sentenced to the media and their transmissions as a source of information about the public sphere of life and along with this, politics as well. It depends on the way the media see the problem: whether and in what depiction and in what light does it manage to make its way through to the first page of the newspaper, and thanks to this can it exist or not in the public consciousness. At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was possible to introduce a series of social reforms, and even complete revolutionary change without the participation or support of public opinion in the mass sense (Rucht 1994, p. 350); nowadays it is difficult to imagine such a situation. A good example can be the political breakthrough carried out in the German Democratic Republic in 1989. The uncommonly significant role of media transmissions, especially television, in the context of the changes of the times proves the term found in literature Medien-Wende (media breakthrough), as normally used with reference to these events (Schneider 1999, p. 602). In principle, however, since the times of the memorable radio audition War of the Worlds by Orson Welles (1938) there has not been a way to belittle the public power of the influence of the mass media.
The mass media still do not possess power in the strict sense of the word, this is to say that governing in the long-term is not their domain. The colloquial and increasingly popular term "the fourth estate" is only a metaphor. The media do not possess, after all, the formal legal attributes of a (democratic) government: they are not elected, they are not subject to socio-political control, they cannot be dismissed, and, finally, they do not administer any coercive sanctions towards their audience. It is worth remembering, by the way, that in opposition to the organs of the state - perhaps with the exception of public radio and television broadcasting stations (and these only to some extent) - they are not financed from public funds (compare Dobek-Ostrowska 2004, p. 141-143). The advances in technology and transmission techniques, and also the progressive processes of concentration and commercialization of the media cause their role nowadays to cease to be strictly informative. Modern media activity is not only a reaction to events. On the macro scale, that is on the scale of society as a whole, the creative role of the media is more frequently discussed, and the issue of the relation between reality and its image in the media has occupied academics of the process of political communication since the beginning of the 1950s (compare Merten 1994, Schulz 1990) and has become an inspiration for many hypotheses (among others: agenda setting, framing, priming, refraction, new bias, the concept of mediatization and the cultivation theory). In a book concerning this problem, Hans Mathias Kepplinger (1992) introduces the separation into three kinds of events about which the media inform: natural (Genuineereignisse), mediatized (mediatiesierte Ereignisse), and performance (inszenierte Ereignisse). The first two are those that take place independently of an informational media transmission (for example earthquakes or accidents). The performance-triggered events are exclusively for media use. This is any kind of pseudo-event: press conferences, demonstrations, rallies, etc. However, mediatized events are what one can assume would happen even without the presence of the media, but the course of action would then have an undoubtedly different character (for example the Olympic Games, party conferences, presentation of products, or book fairs). On this basis the author states that the causal relationship between the event and the transmission [in its topic] with time adopts the form of the desired causal relationship (Kepplinger 1992, p. 45). The more technologically advanced development of the media, the more frequently and clearly we have contact with media performance of events, in other words triggered events either through the media themselves and/or their presence. The phenomenon carries the name of issue-management (in German Ereignismanagement).
In a political context this can also be seen as signifying that the mass media have currently taken over certain functions, which were not long ago reserved for politics (Schulz 1997, p. 28). Among the ranks of various functions filled by media transmissions (compare, among others, Schulz 2001, p. 10; Oniszczuk 2002, pp. 30-36) the common function of creating a forum for public debate or discussion and exchange of opinion can be named here. Customarily parliament fulfilled this role. Today, in parliamentary discussions in progress, almost exclusively, arguments are pursued which earlier had already appeared in media broadcasts (Kepplinger 1992). Through its methods of informational operation, this is through an appropriate choice of subject matter and form of presenting content, the mass media shapes the picture of that which society recognizes as the priority in the hierarchy of social needs in a given moment. In this way the media sets in motion a mechanism for making political decisions and then tracks its course. In other words the media pre-forms a political decision (Kepplinger 1992, p. 28). The mass media of today belongs to a family of the most important centers of information transfer in the dimension of foreign policy (Kepplinger 1998). In this way to a certain extent the methods of mass transmission have taken over the traditional assignment of the diplomatic corps and intelligence agencies (which to a great extent currently use media broadcasts in their work). And at the same time they accomplished this so that today it is possible to talk abou t the so-called diplomacy of the media (among others Ociepka 1999, p. 78). As we know from observations of recent events (a worsening of Polish-German relations) this does not always happen to the benefit and satisfaction of the diplomatic service (Newsweek 2004, p. 18-22).
The mass media, in shaping the method of seeing politics, in a specific way "steer" (manage) therefore political information within the limits of modern society. Such active behavior of the media must possess numerous repercussions in reference to the political system. The political world cannot and does not remain passive towards this process. To some extent its natural reaction in this situation consists of diverse influence on the conditions of functioning and/or transmissions of the mass media. Besides the actions concerning the creation of appropriate legal frameworks inside the political system, which would regulate the issue connected to the existence of the mass media, or to make attempts anew to obtain the influence based on the content of their broadcasts (especially television), political actors do everything as well to not become merely passive objects of media transmission. Many political actors, appreciating the meaning of the media and handling the issue of their image in the media unusually seriously, strive for and extremely precisely calculate the actions of the media in their own operation. Hence the next crucial element of relations between the media and politics is the progressing of a purposeful, deliberate mediatization of political action. More and more often political actors have an entire staff at their disposition, who specialize in the field of giving counsel in media contacts, a professional shaping of the media image, etc. (compare Sobkowiak 1999, Wiszniowski 1999, Dobek-Ostrowska 2004). New professions come into existence, new scholarly specialties, and new market segments. All this leads to the fact that we currently have to deal with the reality of the so-called double bottom (Schulz 1997, p. 12). Information very often becomes transformed from the point of view of usefulness to the media, however, before it makes its way to any editor, where it is transformed again, this time by the journalists who hired them. A particularly evident behavior of this type is especially apparent at the time of election campaigns. Such phenomena as the so-called individualization or americanization of politics have become increasingly clear (Radunski 1996). In this way the expansion of the mass media - influencing the necessity of increasing the attractiveness of political broadcasts - rearranges itself clearly in the way of controlling politics.
The emergence of such situations proves unambiguously the significance and power of the media in the process of managing political information in the area of modern democratic societies. That is why it is important and necessary to search for answers to the question: How is the mutual view of relations between the mass media and politics formed? Observation and research in these relations as well as continuous, systematic subjection to their scholarly reflections are critical. Such research and scholarly actions make up the content of political communication.
The Concept of Political Communication
The essence of political communication as a scholarly (sub)discipline in the field of learning about communication is to find the answer to the question as to how social communication operates within the method of controlling politics (pro, con, neutral?), the activity of the political members of society (as above), and also how politics influences social communication. An explicit definition of the term political communication offers many difficulties, and according to some authors it is simply impossible: (...) it is impossible to talk about any agreed upon and clearly defined subject of study, but rather a hypercomplex conglomerate of relations is openly indicated which (...) only with great difficulty can be separated and demarcated, and then defined (Saxer 1998, p. 21).
It is helpful in an attempt at a more closely specified area of scientific inquiry, on the basis of political communication, to distinguish its component elements, which is to say politics and communication. All the differences in the definition of the subject of political communication as a science result therefore from a dissimilar understanding of politics and/or communication. In the most general terms politics can be understood as a subsystem generating universally binding decisions, social communication, on the other hand as a process of changing the meaning and as a determining instrument of the existence of social being. With such an approach it is possible to accept the working definition of political communication, proposed by Ulrich Saxer (1998, p. 25): political communication is the central mechanism [serving] the emergence, railroad, and justification of commonly binding political decisions.
Research in the area of this discipline concentrates in general around the issues of social communication in the mass dimension, while particularly concerning the political role of the mass media.
The basis of theoretic deliberation of political communication in the mass dimension is presented by various explanatory models. Four approaches dominate the area which partly oppose each other. The first of these assumes the domination of mass media transmissions over politics. Among the main representatives of this trend are, among others, H. Oberreuter, H. M. Kepplinger, E. Noelle-Neumann, and D. A. Graber (Oniszczuk 2000, pp. 102-103; Schulz 1997, 2002, p. 1). The second approach accepts the supremacy of politics over the media. H. Schatz and O. Jarren (compare Oniszczuk 2000, Schulz 1997, 2002) take this position. The third model is characterized by the assumption of the reciprocal independence of the media and politics, while the fourth establishes that they function in a symbiotic relationship. Among proponents of this trend are U. Von Alemann and U. Saxer (compare Schulz 1997, 2002).
Models assuming an initially antagonistic shape of the relations of the media and politics assume the existence of certain hierarchical structures of dependence between them. Two approaches dominate this field: the concept of dependence and the concept of instrumentalization (Schulz 1997, pp. 30-46; Oniszczuk 2000, 2002). The concept of dependence (Dependenzthese) assumes, that as the omnipresence of the media grows, politics become increasingly dependant on the media. The creators of this approach take the stand that the political process has currently fallen into a deep dependence on the media, and some authors even talk about the domination of the mass media over politics (Obereuter 1982). This situation is thought to be historically new. Followers of the opposing concept of instrumentalization (Instrumentalisierungsthese) believe, however, that the media are dependant on politics. These authors attach particular attention to the existence of media autonomy, expecting from them that instead of fulfilling their subsidiary role towards politics, they will be active representatives of society's interests, because their task is the articulation of these exact interests and control of power. In the opinion of these authors the modern working of the media not only characterizes decreased autonomy, but is still systematically limited, especially with reference to the sphere of the public media. Hence, depending on the accepted view that the impression of the existence of a weaker or stronger media is born (Sarcinelli 1991). This picture of relations is however quite simplified. An entire litany of empirical research is cited in defense of both arguments. These, however, refer to a very thin slice of reality and as such cannot be decisive (Schulz 1997, p. 25).
The view of mutual relations between the media and politics in the model Input-Output (its creators are D. Easton and G. A. Almond and G. Bingham Powell, Jr.) is completely different from the antagonistic model. This model assumes the shared dependence of the world of the media, and the world of politics. This view - through a division introduced in the political system between structures and political culture - is one of the few with a base in political science, which takes into consideration the meaning and usefulness of social communication for politics. This model takes into consideration the fact that the media take part in a "conversion" of Input into Output, which is to say, an exchange between the sphere of politics and the surroundings, and beyond this as well, in the process of political socialization (Schulz 1997, pp. 32-37). Almond and Powell differentiate the twofold character of Input as demands and supports. Output, however, takes note of the form of every activity of the particular branches of power: the executive, legislative, and judicial. This conception, in spite of unquestionable advantages, is however rarely used, even in the forum of political science, as is research about communication (Schulz 1997).
Opposition to the system of the media by the political system is typical for the political science approach. Research into communication is characterized by a devotion to the Lasswell Formula for the flow of information (communication). This often refers to one (or many) stages of this process. Authors of a political science origin order the field of research of political communication most willingly through the help of the categories of "polity" (mass media analyzed as an institution of political participation), "politics" (mass media perceived as an instrument of action on the process of emergence of public opinion and articulation of public needs), and "policy" (the media are seen as a part of the political arena, in the sense of politics of the media or political communication) (Schulz 2002, Oniszczuk 2000).
Two views dominate the research method of political communication, on the basis of which, the commitment it attempts to clarify the relations between the world of politics and the media is commonly made: the functional (funktionaler Erklärungsansatz) and causal approach (kausaler Erklärungsansatz) (Schulz 1997, p. 27-29). The functional view assumes the premise that the media fulfill a specified function in reference to politics: they are the political debate forum and constitute the public sphere, etc. Despite a significant number of attempts to explain the mutual relations of the media and politics made in the field of the functional approach, a final decision has not yet been reached. One of the weak points of this approach is that various authors very diversely expressed the term function - it depends on accepted assumptions (Oniszczuk 2002, p. 29). Relations between the media and politics are decided therefore on a very high level of abstraction. Similarly the needs and problems of the political system, which in the scope of mass communications should be functional or dysfunctional, are also written about on a very high level of abstraction. This definitely hampers the rearrangement of the theoretical problem into a research language. Despite substantial popularity, to this date the approach has rarely become an initial point for systematic empiric research. It is more often the basis for interpretation and/or systematization of obtained results (Schulz 2002).
In the case of the causal approach the central area of interest is the media and the quality of the influence they have over politics. In the area of this approach, the analysis is completed on three levels: micro - knowledge, beliefs and motives for the actions of specific players, mezo - on the level of the organization, macro - on the level of the political system as a whole. In the introductory phase in the 1940s, research depended on the simple and sure model of stimulus and reaction (Stimulus-Response-Model S-R-Model), in time supplemented by successive elements having an influence on the effectiveness of stimulation and the intensity of reaction (O-S-O-R-Model, where O is the determining factor, possibly modifying the result) (Schulz 1997, p. 29). There are currently a large number of results from various types of research to deal with. However, their greatest concentration refers to the micro level. Depending on economic causes the research most often takes into consideration only a few factors, influencing the relations between the media and politics. For this reason an objection is often found in literature on the subject of atomization of research and on the fragmentary character of analysis. Doubts are also aroused by comprehension of the term interaction. The causal approach found wide interest in the arena of political practice: specialists from political public relations often take advantage of the results of such studies in their work. The possibility of agreement between the functional approach and the causal approach would be offered by the Input-Output-Model, however - as mentioned above - this is rarely applied (Schulz 2002).
To some extent, due to the nature of things, research of political communications is a concrete historical-political occurrence. Next to historical events no less important, another field of interest in political communication is the period in which political elections and election campaigns are conducted. The object of research is in this case the perception of the way in which the set of problems is brought up in a given election campaign (among other questions, by whom?), which image of particular election programs and of candidates is presented by the mass media, how effective in the media are particular candidates or the political parties they represent and what support and from which of the media do they receive this support, etc.
In the area of research of non-media political communication, scholarly interest focuses first of all on analysis of political language and forms of symbolic action, which at first glance are not perceived as a type of communication, but despite this they can fulfill both political and communicative functions (among others rituals, ceremonies, demonstrations, and acts of violence) (Schulz 2002, p. 2). It is fundamentally difficult to separate political action from political communication. Some authors even point to an identity between politics and communication, or even communication as a political medium: political communication is not only an instrument of politics. It is politics itself (Saxer 1998, p. 25). Lasswell, Lazarfeld, Hovland - the fathers of political communication as a scholarly discipline - contributed to the introduction and development of the basic research methods used in the field of political communication. Up to the present day analysis of the contents of speeches, surveys, and experiments, that is to say standard research instruments used not only in the area of research about communications, but social studies in general, belong to them. With reference to the political content in journalistic media transmissions, a quantitative content analysis of speeches is most often used; while procedures of linguistic analysis or discourse analysis are more rarely used. The field of study examined is typically the picture of politics transmitted by the media, the image of particular political actors, or the deformation of reality or the journalistic quality of the transmission. Often included in the research is a television broadcast (more rarely radio), but most often, however, the analysis submitted is a speech and a text.
Currently the term management is often used with reference to various aspects of the process of political communication. In German-language specialist literature the following terms may be found, among others: Kommunikationsmanagement, politisches Kommunikationsmanagement, Informationsmanagement, Ereignismanagement, Themenmanagement.
Bibliography:
Press:
Barateng: Female friendships in traditional view
Certain personal relationships, like marriages, relationships between parents and children, siblings, other relatives and friends, can be found in most cultures. Friendships however, have different significance in different cultures.
Few good friends
Friendships in most countries are subordinate to family relationships. This is the case in Hungary as well. Surveys conducted in the 80's and 90's showed that there are a lot of people who have no friends at all (Utasi 1990, 1991). Unfortunately the situation seems to be getting worse. In 1993, 25% of women and 14% of men had no friends and by 1997 the numbers had increased to 35% for women and to 21 % for men. As we can see, the situation of women is always worse than that of men. Between 1993 and 1997, more women than men lost their friends and 73% of the people who had no friends in any of the years examined were women (Albert & Dávid 1998).
The freedom of choosing and making friends is limited by the sources of energy available for people. Time and money are required for making and sustaining friendships. If there is not enough of them, people are not able to make friends and to cultivate friendships. In a Hungarian family usually both husband and wife have to work, but because of the traditional division of labor, women have even fewer chances to make friends.
The "availability of friends" changes according to education and age. The older and the less educated the person is, the less it is possible for them to make friends, and this is true all over the world. Compared with western countries, friendships are less important in Hungary (Utasi 1991). This is especially true about emotional support coming from friendship, which is at a very low level in our country, it is less important than practical assistance. Hungarian women and men remain alone with their emotional problems much more frequently than in other countries. The main reasons for this are the heritage of the traditional peasant-society to "taking everything lying down", and the effort of the average people in difficult financial conditions to avoid all the uneconomical and unprofitable relationships. How can it affect life, especially that of women, who are in a more difficult situation in every respect. What is the benefit of women friendships, that most Hungarian woman miss?
Talking to friends
The most important common feature of friendships is the pleasure of doing things together. Friends usually talk, eat or drink, go out, do some sport or their voluntary or obligatory work together. Women spend more time talking than men at every age (Argyle 1991). Their most important subject is obviously their own life. Teenage girls talk about dates and school, young women in their twenties talk mostly about their choice of careers and partners, and later on women most often talk about family and children. At every age personal ambitions, problems and desires are in the focus of conversations.
Women who have chosen the traditional course of life most often talk about their partners and children (Gouldner & Strong 1987). Also their choice of friends reflects this need: they make friends with women having a partner and bringing up children. Women having similar life styles have similar schedules as well. They can help each other taking turns in looking after each other's children for example. Also their subjects derive from similar experiences: women having small children can talk about eating and dejection habits of their children for hours without getting bored with them. These conversations are not only for exchanging information. They strengthen their self appreciation and make their world concept and life style valid. Single women and/or women without children look for each other's company for similar reasons.
Women who focus on their career do not have much to talk about with their housewife friends. They spend their free time (if they have any) with women (or men) who share their concept of life and their views, who have similar schedules and spend their spare time in a similar way. I have to mention here that married women do not really feel that they are free to dispose of their free time and the resources of the family. It often stops them to cultivate old friendships or to create new ones (Oliker 1989). Of course a lot of women do not even feel the need to cultivate friendships, but many of them suffer from isolation. I am going to speak about its effect later on.
As there are a lot of kinds of women, it is impossible to speak about the role of friendship between women in general. Further on I am going to show some important features of this diversity.
Marriage work
First of all I am going to speak about the most common phenomenon, the so called marriage work (Oliker 1989). In Hungary most adult women live (or have lived) in marriage and are bringing up one or more children. Traditionally, their central role is that of the wife and the mother, even if they work full time. As a result of our particular patriarchal system, a lot of men do not want to and/or cannot be emotional partners for their wives. A well known reason for this is the difference of the individualization process of men and women, as a result of which a separated self is created in men and an embedded self in women. Another aspect of patriarchy is the superiority of men and their activities and the underestimation of women' activities. Housework, bringing up children and emotions are usually the subjects that women have to discuss with one another, as according to the traditional view they cannot be discussed them with men. In many cases, women do not immediately talk about their difficulties in their relationship with their partner. They often turn to their women friends first to get some advice. In such cases marriage work starts and it most often means reassurance of the plaintiff, revaluation of the difficulties and preservation of the marriage and the family in the long run. In the course of marriage work women rarely tell their women friends fighting with problems "to leave the guy, to take the child and leave" or "not to endure any more what he does". Women friendships are characterized by the respect of private life and the acceptance of the priority of the family.
Marriage work is most often directed to achieve or sustain the stability of marriage or the sense of suitability i.e. the commitment of the individual to marriage. Marriage work can be self-oriented, when women friends try to change their feelings by talking about them. When people express their thoughts, they move away from them and can see their effects. Good women friends know when just to listen and let the other express herself and when to say something that helps the other get beyond and clarify the situation. A form of self-oriented marriage work is "changing the frame", i.e. generating empathy for the other person's feelings. The girlfriend looking at the situation from outside can more easily identify with the husband's view and realize his situation. Her feedbacks make it possible to revaluate the situation and to deal with it in a more constructive way. The other frame changing strategy is the exaltation of the partner pointing out his positive aspects that helps reconciliation to the situation and maintenance of the marriage. And if it does not help, we can still make use of our sense of humour, making fun of difficulties and worries. Irony and humour also help problem solving by alienation and externalization. In the course of self-oriented emotional work the examination and open expression of emotions may help elaboration. It is much easier to express feelings openly to a girlfriend than to the partner because women do not have to fear the other person's reaction, the domination of emotions or the outbreak of the conflict. They do not have to feel ashamed or guilty. Marriage work with a girlfriend in a protected environment helps to clarify and handle feelings without having to be afraid of damaging the marriage.
Marriage work directed to factors outside the individual is called situation-handling. It includes a detailed discussion of events and a search for behaviour alternatives. Women friends can help in this with ideas taken from their own lives, with a review of alternatives and with direct guidance. The last one can be noticed in friendships reminding of the relationship of mother and daughter, but sometimes also equal friends give pieces of advice like "you should not endure it any more" or "someone should tell him the truth". We call this type of marriage work influence-oriented, which is usually not so frequent as marriage work helping adaptation. The reason for this is a fear of active steps, the involuntary acceptance of the subordination of women. Women often choose adaptation because they need only their own abilities to it, while a more assertive way of handling the situation requires the cooperation of their husbands as well. For fear of refusal, a lot of women resolve their marriage problems without the man knowing about it.
Women who trust their own resources and possibilities tend to do influence-oriented marriage work with their women friends. This is especially true about educated, gainfully employed friendships where not only marriage work is important but also individual achievements and information about the career. In Hungary most women are still less educated and more underpaid than their husbands. In these cases traditional family roles make women more disposed. As they do not see any choice and keep the safety of their children and themselves in their mind, they strive to sustain their marriages to the very last. Women friends help each other with accommodation-oriented marriage work used for strengthening their commitment to marriage. This work is supported and enforced by social norms. Although women do not say that they can feel this pressure, but they consider it natural and obvious. Therefore they feel the helper gives objective advice if it strengthens the marriage and they think it is distorted if individual interest gets into the foreground. This approach is more likeable if the woman loses more by breaking up the marriage. If the situation is intolerable, women friends have a different task.
"Divorce work" starts when marriage work ends. Women do not usually encourage each other to divorce, but if it happens they support each other after the divorce. Unfortunately, as the number of divorces increases, this kind of work becomes more frequent and necessary. The re-examination of the concept of family and of the frames of family life can make it possible to make the accommodation of single individuals accepted by themselves and by the society and to reinterpret relationships outside the family. As a result, friendships can get more important, as the international tendency of the weakening of family attachments regards Hungary as well.
Single individuals (no matter why they have become singles), with or without children are more exposed to the negative effects of loneliness. The lack of social support may increase directly or indirectly the risk factors endangering health. Lonely people become more often ill at any age. The feeling of being supported decreases this danger, it defends the individual from the harmful effects of stress. According to the results of international surveys, support coming from different sources has a cross-domain buffering effect, not a specific one (Lepore 1992). Appropriate support in any area of life protects the individual from the negative effects of stress appearing in other areas of life. Friendships, as other forms of personal relations can be important sources of social support (Sarason & Pierce 1994). The negative effects of the disintegration of the family may be compensated by the appropriate support of friends. Unfortunately, for the above mentioned reasons, the adult population with an average education do not usually have a satisfactory network of friends in Hungary (Utasi 1991). It is especially true about married women.
Based on the classical example, if a woman has a long-lasting relationship with a man, her women friends gradually get into the background and disappear from her life. In the area of relationships Hungarian women "put all their eggs into one basket", i.e. they expect their partner to satisfy all their emotional needs and focus all their emotional energy on them. Hungarian and international surveys show that this desire is rarely satisfied and that women often get disappointed in their romantic ideals about relationships (Oliker 1989). But dropped friendships can rarely be revived and a lot of women do not feel like having enough resources to make new ones.
Friendships in the individualization-process
Women graduates whose career is an important part of life have a different situation. In Hungary family is the most important thing for qualified women as well. The Yuppie life style of highly qualified ambitious women who do not have children and live alone has only recently appeared. Few surveys have been conducted about their lives in Hungary. Professional women having children can cultivate their friendships to a very limited extent. It is almost impossible to co-ordinate career and children. Most professional women can spend very little time with their friends. When they meet, they talk about their partners, their self-actualization and their careers.
Friendship is one of the best areas for the expression of identity and for personal development. As it is not so regulated and institutionalized, we can express ourselves and individualize more freely within its framework. Talks to friends and feedbacks from them are important factors in the development of the personality. Plans, desires and fantasies about the future are often discussed by friends. A lot of women share also their career ambitions with their women friends and not with their husbands. Fantasies about the future of their relationship are even less frequently discussed with their husbands. Women friends play a unique role in supporting ambitions, in the process of self-evaluation and self-expression.
According to some theoreticians friendships and marriages contribute to two important aspects of the development of women: identity and intimacy. According to this theory there is no relationship that could promote all the aspects of the development of the personality (Paul 1991). Most probably, all the different important relations contribute to the development of the personality. If intimacy can be created with the partner, the questions of identity: "Who am I? Where am I going?" will arise outside the marriage, talking to friends. Another practical reason why women share their personal ambitions with their women friends is that according to their experience, while a question is in the phase of analysis and planning, it is better not to burden the relationship with the tension arising from it.
While most relationships still function according to the patriarchal, unequal division of labour, friendships based on free choice contribute to the autonomy of the individual. A prevailing limit of this autonomy is that women friends share the view of the priority of family and marriage. Therefore, the principle of freedom can come across only until it starts to endanger the harmony of the family. In families where there are well paid, qualified women, the division of work in the family is more balanced and husbands have a more supportive attitude to women's independence. It has been noticed that if partners respect each other's freedom more, intimacy is less expressed. To compensate for this, women who live in freer relationships contributing to self-actualization, focus on emotional bonding in their friendships.
An important component of the individual's identity is the question of self-esteem. It is also a social form created by feed-backs coming from the outside world. Our friendships contribute to its formation to a great extent, as reinforcements coming from friends can be considered objective and subjective at the same time. They look at us from outside, but through the distorting-glass of their friendly feelings. We accept even criticism from our best friends and in the framework of the loving relationship, we do not feel it as offending as in other situations.
According to the self-evaluation maintenance theory (Erber & Tesser 1994), we choose our friends so that they influence our self-esteem in a positive way. If a certain question is important for the maintenance of our self-esteem and it is also important for our friends, we wish to win the social comparison process. "I am better than she is". If it does not work, our friendship cools down. If the question does not affect our self-concept, we enjoy our friend's success, without being jealous or envious. This reflection process increases our self-esteem and makes us strengthen our friendship.
Empowerment through the relationships
Our friendships can lay the foundation of the relation-oriented form of power, which stands closer to women (Surrey 1991). It emphasizes the ability to change and not to control and dominate. As a result the person gets empowered and it is realized in relationships. Psychological empowerment is a kind of motivation, freedom and ability of the individual to use their resources, strength or power in order to attain their goals. This empowerment can only be interpreted within the context of mutual relational empowerment. Relational empowerment means that we take care of our relationships that empower us. This creates a common power that serves the cultivation and the mutual empowerment of the participants. In relationships based on this principle learning is involved: the individual is able to assume the other person's point of view, to learn from each other and to expand their experiences and relationships. Empathy and tolerance arising from this may bring about changes at a social level as well.
Women friends influence the individual, the family and the society as well. As we consider the traditional, the modern and the post-modern family concept, relationships outside the family are getting more and more important in the life of the individual and in the functioning of the family system. The change of the concept of family, the loosening of the structure makes it more and more important to revaluate the concept of family dynamics and its interpretation in a wider range. The spread of families with single parents and homosexual families questions the idea of a normative development and the aim of a "normal" functioning. The strengthening of the relationships outside the families makes it necessary to extend the focus of prevention and therapy. A possible way is to involve friends and other resources outside the family in the assisting processes and to emphasize the importance of friendships in mentalhygiene, in education and in therapy.
Bibliography:
Krisztina Kodó: Albert Wass: Tavaszi Szél és más Színművek. (The Winds of Spring and Other Plays)[1]
Finding undiscovered treasures in Hungarian literature is difficult, but still possible. Finding literary texts that have hitherto been neglected or pushed to one side is seemingly impossible nowadays in our age of mass media and communication, but evidently still possible. That is how I had come across the writings of a Transylvanian-Hungarian writer's huge body of works.
Who is this seemingly undiscovered gem within Hungarian literature? A person who had been forced into the role of the emigrant writer? A person who still seeks his rightful place within the large canon of Hungarian literature? He is none other than Count Albert Wass de Czege (1908-1998). He is a writer who spent his entire life fighting in his literary works for the distinct rights of Hungarians in Transylvania and Romania. His works abound in beautiful and fantastical images and symbolic references of the natural scenery of Transylvania. But beside the immense beauty of nature there is the ever present suffering and tragedy of the Hungarians, who witnessed and the suffered the consequences of the disintegration of the Monarchy, the effects that followed the signing of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 and with it the relocation of the borders of Hungary, and the two World Wars and its aftermath.
Under his pen name, Albert Wass, has written a wide variety of works ranging from poetry, children's tales, short stories, beautiful love stories, dramatical plays, deeply felt political novels, and also a family epic. (www.czegeiwass.org) He was merely nineteen when Wass' first collection of poems was published in 1927. Then his second work, The Wolf Pit (Hungarian title: A Farkasverem), a novel, became an instant success in 1934 and even won him the prestigious Baumgarten literary award. On the one hand, the novel deals with the heroic and partly tragic struggle of the main protagonist, and on the other the highly satirical characterization of the contemporary Hungarian aristocracy in Transylvania. Together with six million Hungarians the aristocracy must suffer the after-effects of the First World War, when the Romanian authorities confiscate major portions of their wealth and properties. (www.krater.hu/uj/wa/wabemut.html)
The figure of the struggling hero amidst a historical turmoil appears again in Albert Wass' play The Winds of Spring. Since 1989 with the fall of the iron-curtain the author and his works have been receiving increasing critical acclaim. Though there is still a lot of political controversy concerning Albert Wass between the left and right wing parties in Hungary, still one must acknowledge that his works are becoming more and more popular within the Hungarian population in Hungary and Transylvania.
From amongst his works the dramatical play, The Winds of Spring, is known only to a few. According to Éva Lukácsi and Ildikó Balázs (2003, p.1) a performance of the play at the Budapest Nemzeti Színház (National Theatre) was scheduled for the Christmas of 1944, but the premier was called off the very last minute. This article says that the play was banned, while another source by Ákos Dunai (1989, p. 2) says that it was merely "cancelled", and yet again in the volume of the play there is a note that the play was cancelled due to the bombings. (Wass, 2003, p. 6) But whatever the reasons may have been the play has never been performed on a public stage and it is still highly impossible that any national theatre would be willing to stage it, and if there were a theatrical company that would volunteer to perform it, the production would not be without sharp critical assessments. (Lukácsi-Balázs, 2003, p. 1)
Albert Wass begins his play with a prologue and ends it with an epilogue, thereby establishing a frame-structure. Both the prologue and the epilogue take place in the present time of the play, while the central section transfers the reader back in time to the years following the First World War and the disintegration of the Monarchy. The locations set for the prologue and the epilogue are, one might say, the typical settings of Wass' fictional world. These are a forest clearing, snow-capped mountains, gurgling streams, blossoming pines, and the enchanting world of the birds and the animals. This is a world of heavenly idyll, a world that inspires awe and wonder.
The main character of the play is Imre Tomori a Transylvanian Hungarian aristocrat, who is very much at home in this world. But in the prologue and the epilogue he only features as Old Imre. He is the Old Man of the mountains, who walks the forests and has made his home there.
The play begins with a beautiful and fantastical description of nature, where the frightening beauty that it inspires mingles with superstition and the supernatural. The tone and mood is at once light and full of folkloristic elements beginning with the lyrical folksong "Tavaszi Szél" (The Winds of Spring)[2], which is full of the charm and wonder of the coming of Spring in the mountains. This little song serves as the basis for the whole play emphasizing the strength and power of nature that Man must adhere to, and follow the law of God and nature.
Do you hear the winds of Spring? It is the Law that causes the trees to howl; leaves and flowers to bud, to overflow waters, and scents to mingle. And also to fell trees, the rotting trees. This is the Law of God, the only existing Law. And if Man detaches himself from this, then he will stray from the rightful path and lose himself in the world ... (Wass, 2003, p. 20)
Spring is also a time of year when nature awakens from its long and peaceful winter slumber. Man, just like nature and with it the animals, seeks a mate with whom to share the beauties and tragedies of life. On the surface the play is light, filled with the fantastical and supernatural elements of nature, but underneath there is a barely controlled tragic suffering that is inflicted upon Man. The intense pain and suffering that emerges from the work shows Albert Wass suffering with his tragic hero.
The characters featuring in the prologue (Old Imre, Young Imre, Anikó and Irma) foreshadow on a lower level the main events of the play. Anikó, a young peasant girl in love with Young Imre, awaits her lover at full moon. And Irma the daughter of the wealthy Lord Lieutenant of the County represents the other world, the world of the aristocracy, for whom everything is allowed. Hunting is a sport and shooting a roe-buck just for the fun of it is also permitted.
The first two characters, who appear are Young Imre, carving a flute out of a piece of wood, and Anikó, who teases her lover. The enchanting and idyllic scene in the forest is suddenly disrupted by the sound of a shot being heard. Anikó leaves, but they agree to meet again at full moon. Old Imre appears and they both wonder who might have fired that shot. Then Irma appears, and we learn that she had been the one to shoot the roe-buck. She is now lost in the woods and offers Young Imre money to take her back to the hunting lodge. Irma represents the enchantress, who offers to make a gentleman of Young Imre. He is on the verge of accepting Irma's offer, forgetting Anikó, the hills, the mountains and everything that nature had meant to him up to now. Old Imre tries to warn him, and to make him see and understand his impending doom if he accepts, he begins to relate the story of his life. And by the end of the prologue we know from Old Imre that he had once been a gentleman and an aristocrat, but in following his heart he had chosen to leave everything behind.
Through the story-within-the-story structure the reader has the opportunity to meet Imre Tomori, the young and wealthy Transylvanian-Hungarian aristocrat. From the enchanting and vivid images of nature we are transported to rural village life and to the home of Imre Tomori. As in the prologue the first act begins with the figure of, another, Anikó watering flowers and singing the song "The Winds of Spring". Thereby, the song takes us at once back, but also forward in time. This Anikó is in love with Imre, just like the Anikó with the Young Imre of the prologue, but, ironically, true love is cast aside by both Young Imre and Imre Tomori. Both are enchanted and fooled by the seemingly promising lies of Irma (in the prologue) and his fellow aristocrats, who sing of a wonderful and challenging future in Hungarian politics.
The second act takes place four years later in a big town and begins with the celebration following Imre's official appointment as Lord Leiutenant, but the Imre we meet here is an already disillusioned man, who sees all too clearly the decadence of the contemporary Hungarian aristocracy. He sees and understands the heartrending gap that exists between the "what could have been" and the "what is". There is a huge gap between the beauty and wonder of a heavenly nature and the mountains he had willingly left behind, and a disintegrating society and Monarchy.
This gap widens further in the third act, which takes place five years later (based on my calculations this would be sometime around 1918 or 1919) and the location this time is the Lord Lieutenant's office. Imre Tomori, who is still the Lord Lieutenant, has until noon to pack his own belongings and leave the office for good, since the Romanian authorities will be taking over. Indirectly, Imre is also told to leave Romania, instead he organizes his own fatal accident, which will give him the opportunity to go back to his beloved mountains and disappear from the outside world for good.
This is where the story ends, which does not really end, because in the next instant we are again confronted with Old Imre (or the once Imre Tomori) and Young Imre. Old Imre finishes his story and hopes that Young Imre has understood and learned from the other's mistake. But whether he has or not is left open at the very end. Old Imre leaves with the hope that Young Imre has understood the importance of being true to oneself. But whether he does or not is again left open, because we can see the young man's hesitation, by pacing nervously about before he goes to the shepherd's shanty to wake Irma. One can only hope that he will not make the same mistake, and will eventually choose the Anikó, who will be his true mate in life.
Imre Tomori's tragedy is that he chases a dream he cannot fulfill. He must come to realize that he is alone in his desperate fight for truth and justice. Everyone has a hand in the eventual turnout of the events. And Imre must learn through his own mistakes that the only truth that exists is that of a continuous and never ceasing nature. Everything else is a mass of disillusionment and lies.
In the play Albert Wass voices his concerns and love for his country through the main protagonist. Like his character, he too, tries to seek the truth and spread the truth in his fictional writing. And like Imre Tomori he, too, believed that if you do not give up and continue searching, then "God will help those who seek the truth". (Wass, Short Stories p.45) And Albert Wass' time has now come and his truth is being heard.
[1] Since the play has no known English translation I took the liberty of providing it a possible title.
[2] Based on my sources the song was collected by Sándor Veress and is originally from the region of the Moldavian Hungarian speaking population.
Bibliography:
Matviychuk A.V.: The Ecological Style of Thinking and the Increase of the Bounds
The problems of global humanity must take into account the questions that underline some of its basic conditions such as its norms, directives and principles, and the personal attitude to environment, which has only recently become highly up-to-date. One of the variants of a new human consciousness in the twenty-first century may be an ecological consciousness and an ecological type of thinking. This article is devoted to the substantiation of the dissemination of important ecological thinking through the distinguishing of the features of a principled thinking style.
A world ecological crisis will begin in 20 years. This prediction was first announced at the beginning of 2005 by Professor Denis Madows, from New Hampshire University, a well-known contemporary scientist, interested in global ecological problems, and famous for his report presented at the Rome Club with the title The Increase of the Bounds. This report was the first attempt at providing an estimation of the quantitative processes that have occurred in globalization on our Planet.
In an interview to the network inform agency, www.ytpo.ru, the scholar explained that the crisis would be caused by the changes of the global climate. According to the scholar's affirmations the energy floods and substances nowadays roughly exceed the level of the earthly ecosystems by 20%, which could otherwise provide for their constant function. This means that the biosphere under human influence has already been overloaded by 20% and in order to save the ecosystem of the Earth it is necessary to decrease these floods. Otherwise the crisis will occur and cause the increase of mortality, and an extreme decline in living standards on the planet. The initial stimulus of this depression will occur, due to the inevitability of the reduction of the quality of goods and environment. This entails that the quality of the soil will deteriorate, and this will increase the usage of synthetic fertilizers and will later influence the quality of customer goods, as well.
According to Denis Madows the natural cataclysms of the recent years show that the climate changes are rather extreme processes. The analysis of the dynamics of "natural surprises" make it possible to confirm that 60% of these changes will happen in 5-6 years and a general world crisis will begin in 20 years time. Of course this prediction has been treated with certain skepticism, but it is worth noting that it was sounded before the destructive tsunami South- Eastern Asian countries suffered from, and also before, the January hurricane and floods in Europe... The question that arises is: What are we to do? To our mind in looking for an answer to this question the approach offered by other members of the Rome Club, such as those of Professor Ervin Laslo, will be extremely productive.
The scholar and a research group headed by him have been working on the problem of creating a new, ecologically grounded and responsible consciousness. In December 1997 Professor Laslo expressed his thoughts at a solemn meeting at the Budapest Club, that "another thinking and another way of activity are needed to live and to act in new conditions ... we cannot enter the beginning of the third millennium without creating the new thinking type, without piling up the new values and perception more corresponding to the circumstances that quickly change" [1, 84].
From this it follows that in the contemporary world the subjective factor's role has been increasing in trying to solve global problems as never before. Among the conditions of a further development, science and technique improvement, that will certainly cause the increase of human influence within nature, the question arises as to what norms, directives and principles will lead a person in his attitude to consider the environment as being important.
And all this, to our mind, actualizes a task to form the ecological thinking in a person, whose main estimate is valued according to human behavior and its projections of life. The latter is impossible without a thorough development of ecological knowledge. However, the corresponding type of thinking - a scientific form of thinking, - is a form of human consciousness created parallel with the development of certain scientific subjects such as a certain specific activity that is oriented by an objective knowledge producing and corresponding to our reflections of the senses of real relations and resulting in deeply reasonable objective dependencies. This is the development of ecological science as a specific branch of knowledge that is organized according to a difficult system of variously structured totality of facts, regularity, theoretical constructions, reflections, which help form the total imagination of the environment and a human being's place in nature, and helps promote the formation of ecological thinking. It is obvious that the thinking style cannot be fixed explicitly, but the whole mental atmosphere of a certain historical epoch that inspires its prominent figures has penetrated it. It is a so-called power field that organizes the ideas of its time.
Therefore, the analysis of scientific cognition influencing the thinking type shows, that the changes that have occurred during the history of Earth Science in relation to the revaluation of the main directives concerning objective cognition, and cognitive activity, have lead to certain logical consequences as their result, and a determined Earth Science method in certain historical periods of scientific development has found expression in the style scientific thinking. The success of the classical Earth Science method was grounded on mechanical principles, which explains the facts of nature and society, that have brought about the settlement and strengthening of the mechanical style of thinking. The study of the natural scientific object, with due consideration to its changes during many historical epochs, promotes the confirmation of the historical method. Another element was added to dialectical thinking that orientated the scientists towards the development of understanding, not only the quantitative object and its facts, but their quality transformation, as well. Philosophical ideas about the dialectical development of the realistic character, and organic and inorganic worlds have helped to define the dominance of evolutionary images as being norms of scientific rationality in a stage of definite scientific development. The style of evolutionary thinking has been created. The other essential changes in scientific thinking have dealt with the origin of the quantum mechanics that gave the stimulus in the formation of the style of probable thinking that favored the notion of strengthening the process of scientific cognition as a dialectical interaction between the subject and the object. The probability of the thinking style widened the bounds of the field of problematic contemporary science considerably. Science acquired new peculiarities and definite characteristics, which caused in their turn the establishment of a systematic and structural style of thinking. Nowadays, the sin-energetic style of thinking is gaining in strength more and more, and it is, as some scholars think, a modern stage of systematic and structural, as well as, cybernetic style of thinking, which is directed towards the formation of realistic vision through the universal mechanism that reveals the self-organization of difficult systems. As we have seen, the scientific style of thinking has managed to create a permanent process that occurs mainly under the influence of some scientific subject-leaders, and continues during the whole of scientific history.
However, it would be an exaggeration to admit that the ecological knowledge, nowadays, is the only branch that influences the formation of the style of thinking in contemporary science; and that ecological knowledge today has a prevailing character. The ecological style of thinking as a new scientific style forms mainly in a person's consciousness that is deeply interested in ecological problems. Ecological thinking as a method does not have a precise systematic character. This is presented as a list of peculiarities, as being typical features, which are often revealed through distinctive features that deny the style of classical scientific thinking or even that of modern western civilization. The elements of completeness, quality, mentality, respect, evolution and ecological thinking are opposed to the elements of atomism, quantity, object, mechanic, and consumer style of thinking. I. Novik, for example, mentions that the basis of science is founded on opposite theories establishing a new style of thinking where the importance of thoughts may turn out to be asymmetric (for example, the technocratic style of thinking is better known than the ecological style of thinking).
According to the scientist's opinion, the "harmony of scientific cognition consists not in static, absolutely symmetric, synthesized view of oppositions, but in a science of self-development, in its absolute becoming the motive of which a methodologically unequal opposition being asymmetric in every given stage of cognition in condition to their equivalent in a tendency" can come forward [2, 18]. On the other hand, E. Knyazeva emphasized that any cognitive act and its product (for example, ecological knowledge) rebuilt by its surrounding, transforms, and recristalizes connections in a scientific environment. A cognitive act modifies this environmental "architecture". In other words, a scientist, who through his results achieves a level of common science and culture (or its narrow sphere), changes the decorative "pattern" of this environment, and with it the network of connections. [3, 216]. Based on this assumption it is possible to conclude, that the obvious cognitive advantages of the ecological style of thinking will definitely cause a change within the scientific environmental "architecture". Ecological knowledge will form a certain "spirit of epoch", and will further engage in a research for ecological problems consisting of other (new) disciplines. The ecological style of thinking, that emerges under an influence of ecological knowledge is a means of distribution within the ecological methodology. The mechanism, described by E.Knyazeva as being intrinsic to not only the scientific environment, but also on a larger scale a social entity. Consequently, the ecological style of thinking acquires further distribution in society. Considering that the ecological problems deviate from the framework of the scientific- theoretical field, and have a vitally important character, the process of the style of ecological thinking and distribution, as well as, all the ecological knowledge is to be stimulated, instead of being allowed to drift.
The ecological style of thinking, which is formed as a direct result of influence of ecological knowledge on the thinking style of modern science, is needed to register a row of characteristic features, which are combined with the features of all ecological knowledge, and also correlate with the world view and the world of philosophical images, which fix the system of modern civilization with its basic values and priorities. The fact is that the ecological style of thinking (as a certain type of scientific thinking) functions and develops under an aggregate influence of cognitive, social-cultural and institutional factors. The ecological style of thinking is also a difficult multi-component system, which functions in the conceptual-theoretical worldview and logic oriented methodological concept. Therefore, the initial moment of ecological cognition, which determines the specification and correlation of the research separate the different stages as direction, field, ways of further research, method of practical and theoretical environmental learning, and character of theoretical processing of obtained empirical material.
After due consideration of the above mentioned, we can specify the characteristic features of the ecological style of thinking. It is obvious that their sequence of exposition does not testify to the advantage of any of the above features.
In the ecological style of thinking there is a dialog of unscientific and scientific knowledge, a generally used and logically (methodically) motivated knowledge, and there is a co-operation and synthesis of traditional ("old") and new knowledge. This special feature is stipulated in the features of ecological knowledge. The point is that nature, which forms the subjective field of ecological knowledge demonstrates the circumstance that its unity provides for diversity, and that pluralism as a norm guarantees the functioning of the whole biosphere.
The typical feature of the ecological style of thinking is that it is a certain foundation for the creation of reality and (or world of nature) the common understanding of the environment. Thus, the given style of thinking that seems to "cement" this reality, does not allow it to disintegrate into a scientist-researcher consciousness as separate isolated parts, but sets the scientific results and ideas, and provides unity and integrity for all ecological knowledge. As Decart proclaimed, the aim of a thesis is to "divide, while you do not cognize fully", but today there is a leading thesis that says "perceive the integral picture of the phenomenon instead of its fragments" within the eco-knowledge (and in the proper style of thinking). At the same time, ecological knowledge, in which the principle role of complexity is considerable, manifests itself both in cognitive practice and at the level of structural organization of a given field, and stipulates a typical feature of the ecological style of thinking such as complexity. The complexity of the ecological style of thinking may be combined with globalization. Fixing the psychological setting onto an activity of a complex cognitive character shows new possibilities and directions for finding answers to actual questions within contemporary scientific research.
The characteristic integrity of modern ecology, its orientation in decisions concerning human substantial tasks leads to openness in the ecological style of thinking. It is interesting, that the development of ecological thinking promotes not only the production of new ideas, but an awareness of environmental conformities with law and its conceptions, but also in its retrospective and traditionally older ideas of analysis. An address to a series of the fundamental ideas of eastern philosophy can be an example. This concerns the idea of the world being an indivisible organism in which the different parts are in resonance with each other. Therefore, man's activity is directed on external objects, and its transformation was not believed to having been the purpose of traditional cultures. The vector of human activity, as a rule, was directed not from the outside, but towards the middle, as a form of self-control and self-education, that provides the individual the possibility of adapting to the social and natural environment. Nature is perceived here as a living organism, and not as a non-subjective field, which is determined by the functioning of objective laws. Thus, in the ecological style of thinking, a new vision of the natural environment was placed with man in co-operating in his vital functions: nature is not a conglomerate of isolated objects or a mechanical system, but an integral living organism with certain influences that have an effect only up to a certain limit. Extending these limits can lead to catastrophic consequences.
As far as there is a form of practical-converting human activity within bounds of the ecological knowledge, which acquires a global character with further global consequences, the ecological style of thinking can be characterized as being global. Global thinking is "thinking in the terms of processes, instead of structures, in the terms of the dynamic whole, instead of static parts", E.Laslo writes, who emphasizes that global thinking has the most direct attitude toward environmental preservation [1, 83-85]. The globalization of the ecological style of thinking refutes the perception of a "town" world, where the adaptation to terms of existence is not orientated to a prospect (what will be further?), and is caused by an aspiration to get something done well "here and now". This is because if one is to take into consideration, that the modern way of life in the industrially developed countries is ecologically not perfect, and the ecological situation, most probably, will be even more complicated due to the fact, that the less developed (or simply backward) countries will increase their level of resource consumption, which will in time create a pressure on the biosphere. Under these conditions, the problems of a global environment may be solved only at a planetary level, and the measures concerning environmental protection are to become the priority for the whole world.
The ecological style of thinking can be seen as having a bright coloring, that evidently illustrates the modern tendency of science in viewing humanity and sociology, and in particular, the natural histories. We view the necessity of human society on the whole, and education in particular, as a structure that forms the worldview of society, and is under consideration in a scientific and a scientific- popular literature today. A similar discussion was formed in understanding of the humanistic type of awareness of outward things, and by conducting a socially active process on the basis of humanity, which will further many problems and help in solving those, which have appeared before man. However, the same discussions have exposed the presence of polyphony in the term humanism. On the one hand, humanism is perceived as a certain orientation, which has come to take account of man's own welfare. For all that, humanism is spoken about as an approach from man's position, thereby taking the influence of some anthropological description of reality into account. On the other hand, humanism is interpreted as a comprehension of reality that takes man into account. The first position goes from man to the world, that is what man's relation to the world does, and the second one is what the world has done by taking man's presence into account
The positions are different, and sometimes even antagonistic. However, within the ecological style of thinking (within the ecological knowledge) these positions can be synthesized within a new general approach in solving problems of the relation of the "man - world" conception. Certainly, such a synthesis will result in objecting to some of the previous ideas and traditions, which will expose the reality of disparity, and prepares us for the future.
The ecological style of thinking foresees a substantial change within the principles, which the relations of man and nature have been built on, in particular in the relation to the options of the cognitive activity of the person. The ecological style of thinking foresees the application of the "methodology of participation" (a term by G.Scolimovsci). That is, within the meaning of the ecological not only the standard, classic strategies of scientific search are used, but also new strategies of cognitive activity that overcome the alienation between the subject and the object of cognition. In accordance with the methodology of participation a researcher has, allegedly, to penetrate inside a phenomena that is being explored. Obviously, that methodology of participation well correlates with the options of a new rationality, in which, based on the purpose of cognition, not only the reflection of the surrounding world is proclaimed, but also a penetration into it; not only the knowledge of the phenomena and processes, that are inherent to nature, but also their understanding. That is the way the decision of the task was formulated by Albert Shveytser, - that opens as "...people less frivolous and morally stronger, inducing them to think".
The element of responsibility is the other characteristic feature of the ecological style of thinking. The responsible action means the account of all conceivable possibilities in any sphere of existence. This is not strange, because when the scientific and technical activity begins to seize the difficult systems, that are developing themselves, and a man is included in them, its actions are already not something external in relation to an object - but in transforming these objects, a man changes his own form of communication and function. And these changes, as was said, can be most unforeseen. Therefore, the ecological style of thinking will postulate, that every scientific or technical novelty has been estimated from the point of view of the possible risk and potential benefits for humanity and the environment. Here, we go on to another important element - the principle of "positive inheritance".
According to this principle, every generation of people is under an obligation to try, as far as this is within its power, to leave the environment in a better style then it had received it. It is necessary to avoid the superfluous pollution of the environment and use all that we need, rationally and moderately - and not to expend earthly resources that cannot be restored. Today a person must already look after the biosphere, because if this is not achieved then the options of renewing life on Earth will be in earnest undermined. Consequently, the necessities of the coming generations grow from our troubles. Obviously, our debt to the future comes partly from gratitude, and partly from the conviction of past generations, and their activity in nature, from their memory about victims, who have suffered and results in what we use. Thus, with the distribution of the ecological style of thinking moral responsibility for the fate of the coming generations, inclusive with the state of environment, will become the headstone of subsequent developments of society. And the concentration of the idea of providing a safe and reliable world has to grow into a moral duty and a certain imperative of the behavior of modern man.
The problem of self-restraint in scientific, engineering, and in human activity emerges. And these limitations have been orientated by choice at only such possible scenarios of change with the world, in which the separate consequences of accomplishing those or other actions are estimated. These limitations are based both on objective natural-scientific or technical knowledge about possible directions of subsequent development and on certain humanitarian values. Notably, one of the leading principles of modern humanism is a right of its own opinion, an independent research, and also a right to one's own way of life, that extends so far, as it does not harm the other. That is, the value of such moral options as restraint, moderation, self-restraint and self-control is determined today. Obviously, man has to use such instruments of morality, which man was awarded by nature, more effectively, and which often helped man to hold back from destroying himself. The image of nature in its status of optimal development provides the normal vital functions of society, - this is the central category of the applied industry of ecological knowledge, termed as ecological ethics.
Another substantial line of the ecological style of thinking is its dying ethics. This is caused by those, that are within the subject field of modern ecological knowledge known as the "lyodinomirni" natural systems (complexes), the study of which needs the introduction of axiological factors within the complement of explanatory positions, the "explication of connecting between fundamental scientific values (the search of truth, the growth of knowledge) with nonscientific values in general lines where a social character is necessary " [4, 10-13]. "Neutral science" and style of thinking inherent to it exposed insolvency in its relation to the explanation of the greatest eventual setting of man. In neoclassical science (that is in ecological knowledge) of naturalism the geocentric or heliocentric view is replaced by an axiological anthropology, where the knowledge of not being a purpose emerges as the greatest credo of understanding the world, and the anthropological principle (knowledge as a means) [Wonders: 5, 108-109]. Therefore, the ecological style of thinking, that contains the anthropological principle, obligates, that any knowledge, any cognitive action, and, in general, all human practice, must become humanitarian.
And finally, perceptive thinking is typical for the ecological style, even when an address to ideological and theoretical works of the past takes place. Ecological thinking comes as an instrument in the achievement of new human aims, it allows for the correction of views and approaches in the light of new achievements in human cognition, quickly and effectively, the changes of the terms of life of humanity, and also in connection with the origin of new unforeseeable problems. The options for the ecological style of thinking are instrumental in the progress of humanity, that both take into account the achievements of modern science and the traditional values of morality. But taking into account the sad experience of civilization it is useful to revise its notion of "progress", which is widely used today. Obviously, progress needs to be interpreted not only as an improvement of the environment. It is necessary to examine progress through the prism of personality. That is, scientific and technical (external) progress is linked with the improvement of man, its nature, with the perfection of the human understanding, the deepening of his feelings, and the strengthening of his will. This view is quite recent, because the idea of self-restraint and self-control, probably, foresees the independent, internal decision and act. And this act needs the substantial act of self-perfection, and the internal progress from modern man.
Thus, it is possible to establish under the influence of ecological knowledge the thinking of modern science, which has opened a new (in the wide understanding of this word) style of thinking, based on tolerance, on the dialog of the different forms of cognition, and is connected with the search for a way out of the modern global crises. This ecological style of thinking, based on its energy of features and public actuality, acquires distribution not only in scientific circles. This can be explained by those, that provide the basis of the exact style of thinking, on which the synthesis of understanding occurs; overcoming a modern crisis will be necessary by those facilities, which defined its appearance, and awareness of such general interest, in relation to environmental preservation, which condition the existence of humanity. Values, that have been established by the ecological style, and which are founded in a culture, religion, history and tradition of humanity (as planetary integrity), are able to come forward as a guarantee of its unity and solidarity. A society that is formed on the basis of such a style of thinking can be defined as being open. Such a society follows an inherent principle of nature, as the principle of varied forms. An open society that realizes the existence of multiplicity and a variety of cultures has to treat its own values that are subject to discussion, perfection and choice. Here people must have the freedom of thought and action, by taking into account the limitations, which are imposed by the general interest [6, 56].
We must also mark that the forming of the ecological style of thinking has been examined by us as a constituent of the trend of general progress of modern science, namely its humanization that foresees, among others, the transition of new organizational and methodological principles. Clearly, the forming of such a style of thinking is a protracted, difficult process, which needs considerable efforts from specialists of the different industries of human activity. However, nobody will probably deny that one of the most effective "access points" of the noted higher ecological imperatives in the consciousness of society is the education of all levels. Personality belongs to the environment, as it carries out its choice, makes decisions and operates within a framework, lines up a conduct on standards, which are set in society. From another perspective any type of directed action begins in an empty space, but appears on a certain basis of psychological and world view, that is structured by the proper system of options, and "rules the tone" of the internal mechanisms of dynamics within society. Consequently, educational activity today, according to the basis of present theories, is needed to realize certain principles and pedagogical technologies that are directed in the forming of a new, ecological character of attitude and seeing the place of man in the world, as new paradigms of future society, and civilization. Ervin Laslo noticed, that information and education today are the substantial elements for a steady development of humanity: "We need more information in essence, to speak to the masses, to the adults, young people, old people, and people of all ages... The second idea is, perhaps education, in order to make contact with young people, with those, who will continue in the world in the role of leaders and active members of society in ten or twenty years" [7]. If such a contact can be established, and the results and conclusions of research workers, who work in the region of ecological knowledge can extract a wide output on the masses of people, then we will probably get around the conditions of forming a type of consciousness and a set of values, which will allow the development of civilization in all directions, and puts an end to the discussions concerning the range of growth.
Bibliography:
Krystyna Daniel: The Responsibility of the Media in Shaping Public Opinion about the Courts
The supervisory function of the media over the state authorities
Much has already been written on the topic of the media, but many issues indirectly or directly related to the organization and functioning of the media still ignite interest and controversy. This is, of course, tied to the omnipresent and at the same time changing position of the media in the life of society, but also to the need for the integrated formulation of the phenomena in which the media play an essential role. It appears that many phenomena and processes reaching into modern society demand, for their own description and clarification, to be taken into consideration the problems concerning the media. An example of such an analysis is the following article, in which I make an attempt to find the answer to the question: is there a role, and if so, which role does the media play in the process of forming a critical picture of the judiciary which we are currently dealing with in the consciousness of the Poles?
To begin I would like to point out that the media are often recognized, next to the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers (branches), as the "fourth power". This shows their position explicitly. Whereas the legislature is occupied in enacting (creating) laws for a specific society, the executive organizes social life in support of the laws in force, and the judiciary settles disputes and stands guard over obeisance to the law, and to the media falls the meaningful role of shaping the society's consciousness, also in the scope referring to all other branches of state administration. This means that the media have an enormous share in shaping public opinion and outlook referring to the legislature, executive and judiciary, which allows them to take a particular and dominating stand in regard to the other state powers. The media, directing the attention of the society to specific aspects of the functioning of the branches of government, suggest a particular method of judging the various powers, displaying or concealing certain facts and dangers, creating characteristic virtual reality, which for many becomes the basic, and sometimes the only, method of perception and assessment. This is because that which seems true is more important than that which is true (Reeves, Nass 2000, p. 296).
The process of identifying media transmissions with reality allow the media control, and thus also a strengthening or weakening of the position of each of the remaining three state powers. And if this is so, the media fully deserves not only the title "the fourth power", but can be recognized as a branch referred to as "super power". Of course no one is willing to establish that the media are the only source for shaping public opinion, but in reference to political and social reality their position seems to be dominating, if not to say monopolistic.
The meaningful example to support this thesis, displaying the effectiveness of media impingement, is provided by events preceding the socio-political transformation, like that which took place in Poland and the remaining countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The uncommon social mobilization, which led to the fall of communism would not have been possible without the disclosure (first in the underground press and on radio programs transmitted from neighboring democratic countries) of the truth about the system and its weaknesses, about the abuse and illegitimacy of the main branches of government, and also about the need and possibility of opposition against the oppressions of the undemocratic system and the obligation to act. The fundamental role of the media in shaping the new vision of the society and its liberal and democratic institutions cannot be questioned in this case.
The changes in the political system by no means limited the role and meaning of the media. Rather the contrary, because as often happens even desirable social change does not always come true in practice. Without going into the details of what turned out to be immoral, dangerous or simply corrupt in post-communist Poland, although it is proper to emphasize that once again the free media had to fulfill, and fulfilled, a pivotal role in revealing the phenomena which could not be tolerated in a democracy. They constitute therefore, next to individual and group complaints, a crucial link of public supervision over the means of wielding power (see Sonczyk 1999, p. 149 and the following).
The picture of the courts in social consciousness
In the nature of things, providing answers on the topic of relationships occurring between the media and the picture of the functioning of the courts in the consciousness of society demands appeal to the results of empirical study. Basic empirical material provides deeper results in this range, all-Polish opinion polls conducted in 2002 by the researchers of the Department of Sociology of Law at the Jagiellonian University under the direction of Professor M. Borucka-Arctowa, complemented by interviews conducted with judges, lawyers and prosecutors from Cracow and Warsaw and materials obtained in so-called focus groups, organized with the participation of practicing lawyers and the research team. This research is presented in its entirety in the book Sądy w opinii społeczeństwa polskiego (Courts in the Opinion of Polish Society), published in 2003 (Borucka-Arctowa 2003).
In light of the results obtained from this study, the Polish society assesses the judiciary very critically. It is enough to indicate that the courts, according to the opinions of the Poles questioned in 2002, appear most often as the power in which it is not easy to obtain an impartial judgment. And so only 29% of those polled express the conviction that judgments in the civil courts are always or almost always just. The opinions of those referring to criminal courts are even more critical, since only 24% of the respondents consider that these courts issue always or almost always just decisions. The remaining respondents are considerably more skeptical and believe that unjust court decisions are issued often (Czapska, p. 28 and following, in Borucka-Arctowa 2003). This indicates that on the basis of the conviction of the unquestionable majority of the Poles, the courts do not fulfill their primary function, since they do not guarantee that the decisions issued will be fair. And after all the basic task of the courts - revealed in the word "judiciary" - is to dispense justice. In addition, thanks to the judiciary the law ceases to be abstract, and citizens obtain protection equally before infringements of the law from the side of various parties, as well as, that of public offices. This judiciary function takes on particular meaning in the period of system change, relying on the transition from a socialist dictatorial system to a democratic system, which is characterized by the rule of law.
It is important to point out that this very critical picture of the functioning of the courts clearly corresponds with the results of other opinion polls conducted at the end of the 1990s, also revealing a lack of social trust for the judiciary. Surveys done after 1997 show that judges were sufficiently trusted by 22% to 32% of the society, however the majority (corresponding to 47% to 64%) rate the activity of the judiciary critically. Results show that in the period preceding social change, which was before 1989, as in the first period of transformation - to the middle of the 1990s - the image of the courts in the consciousness of the Poles was not so critical (Czapska, in Borucka-Arctowa 2003; Wróbel 1998).
What causes the Poles to be so untrusting of the courts? In the light of the results obtained in the research conducted in 2002, in the belief of those surveyed, the main cause of unfair decisions in criminal and civil courts is corruption (48% of respondents pointed out corruption in civil courts and 52% pointed to corruption in criminal courts). Among others, it is somewhat more rarely pointed out that the cause of unfair decisions is found in the difficulties in substantiating their argument (40% of respondents) and unjust legal regulations (32% of respondents pointed to unjust civil laws, and 44% to unjust criminal laws). Other negative phenomena appearing in the courts - the under-financing of the judiciary and associated difficulties with personnel and housing for the courts, and also inappropriate functioning of the court secretariat, high costs of court proceedings, and a delay (inordinate lengthiness) in examining cases - these were considerably less frequently indicated by the general respondents.
These critical opinions about the functioning of the courts completely support the data, which indicate that in the belief of the respondents people are not treated equally in the Polish courts. Up to 85% of those studied consider that the rich are better-treated in the courts, 35% point to the privileged status of politicians and 23% to those who are well-educated. It is worthwhile to note that in studies conducted in 1975, considerably fewer pointed to the privilege of certain people in the courts. For example, in 1975 38.7% indicated better treatment for the rich, 22% for well-educated people, and 24.5% for well-connected people. Thus it is possible to claim that in the most recent period there has been not only a substantial fall in confidence for the courts, but also a strengthening of the belief in unequal treatment of citizens in the courts.
In the previously discussed research from 2002, special attention was drawn to social opinions on the topic of the judges themselves, making up a key element of measurements of judicial fairness. It is therefore obvious that neither universal acceptation of the law, nor a properly financed and well-organized judiciary can guarantee social approval for the courts and the entire system of law, if the courts are to be adjudicated by undereducated, cowardly, non-objective, or corruptible judges. Writing about judges, Montesquieu (2003) notes that I do not ask how are the laws, but how are the judges.
The results of the study show that in the opinion of the Poles, judges often succumb to various pressures, thus betraying the rule of the independence of the judiciary. Nearly 60% of the respondents are of this opinion, while up to 21% of general respondents believe that such violations occur often. Only 7.3% of the general respondents expressed positive belief in the independence of the judiciary. According to the opinions of the subjects of the survey with a critical attitude to judges, among the greatest threats to the independence of the judiciary are: corruption (57.5%), influence and the political sympathies of the judge (51.6%), as well as, pressure exerted by those in a superior position (34,7%). Pressures exerted through the law community (18%) and pressures from public opinion (17%) are also indicated (Daniel, in Borucka-Arctowa 2003).
In the light of the presented results it is indisputable that the crucial factor in lowering confidence towards the courts is the belief in their corruption, thus without a doubt the corruption of the judges themselves is pushed to the foreground. It has indirectly been proven through the answers- in the opinion of the respondents - pointing to the better treatment of wealthy people, and points directly to the causes for unjust decisions and the assessment relating to judges.
This is, in brief summary, the image of the judiciary in the consciousness of modern the Poles. This is certainly a disturbing image. Especially since, starting from 1997, these critical opinions continuously remain at a relatively high level. It may be comforting to note that social opinions concerning courts and judges do not have to be identical to reality, but it is not difficult to notice how dysfunctional each lack of social faith for the courts is.
The media in the process of shaping social opinions about the courts
It is possible to suppose that the proposed picture of the judiciary is an adequate view of the Polish reality. There is a problem, however, that the previously discussed study does not directly concern the actual reality of the judiciary, but only the social opinions about its functions. In connection with the above-mentioned key issue occurs a question concerning the source of the shaping of social opinions about the courts.
Analysis of data obtained in the study does not affirm the introductory premise about possible influence of personal contacts with the court on views about the functioning of the court system. Apparently, among those in the general survey only 48.8% had any contact whatsoever with the court, while, as should be shown, only 23.6% of the respondents appeared in court proceedings. The contact of the remaining people, who at least once participated in a trial, had a different, less engaging character, and was tied to an appearance before the court in the role of a witness (29.5%) or a spectator (9.3%)[1].
All the same, the obtained results allow for the statement that the basic source for the shaping of public opinion about the judiciary is the media. In the examined community 86% of the respondents pointed to television, 42% to the press (weekly and daily), and 21% to radio programs as a basic source of information about courts and judges[2]. Every tenth subject of the survey indicated other indirect sources of information concerning court activity, such as information obtained from family and friends, and only 1% mentioned the internet. It is important to note that their own experience makes up, appropriate to the opinion of the respondents themselves, the most crucial source of opinion-shaping about the courts for only 4% of the respondents. Thus, even participation in court proceedings does not make up the basic source of information about the courts and judges and by no means determines social attitude towards this public authority. Decidedly the largest role falls, in this field, to the media.
That the information obtained from the radio, the press, and television actually has an influence on the shaping of the public view on the topic of the judiciary proves the response in which respondents pointed without difficulty to more or less concrete famous cases from the last few years, which stuck in their minds. The survey also showed that people who remembered such information undoubtedly more often mentioned cases having a public character, such as the case of the murderers of Father J. Popiełuszko, the case tied to the pacification of the "Wujek" mine in the time of Martial Law, abuse in the FOZZ (Foreign Debt Servicing Fund) affair, the Bagsik affair, the cases directed against one of the political parties called " Samoobrona" and tied to road blockades, etc. This type of case was mentioned by almost 70% of the respondents. Somewhat more rarely mentioned are cases that are as a matter of fact private, but also publicized in the media, like the cases of infanticide, brutal murders, or rape (50% of respondents). Only 9% of this sample group indicated their own private cases. These data indicate that the role of the media in shaping public opinion about the courts is undoubtedly greater in comparison with the personal court experience of those people taking part in the study (Borucka-Arctowa 2003).
From the research it follows, moreover, that somewhat more than half of the respondents consider the information obtained about the courts from the media to be adequate, however one in three feels that the information is insufficient.
Views of respondents differ in reference to the participation of judges in radio and television programs. Every third respondent (34%) supports greater participation of judges in radio and television broadcasts. This is connected with the belief that judges appearing on radio or television programs can inform and educate the public about law and law in action. Additionally, some of the subjects would like to simply know about judges just like they know about politicians or actors. However, it is important to emphasize that for nearly 37% of those surveyed, greater participation of judges in the media is not desired. This view is most often connected to the belief that it is unnecessary, and somewhat less often with the concern, that such a public image could become dangerous for the judge himself. One in ten respondents against a wider participation for judges in the media consider that the job of a judge is to decide cases in the courtroom and not to show himself on television. The views of those surveyed differ also in the belief as to whether the participation of a judge in the media influences an increase (35%) or a decrease (31%) in the authority of a judge.
The next issue involving differing views of the respondents concerns the presentation in the media of cases in which a final court decision has not yet been reached. The views of those surveyed differ in this instance as well. One in three of those surveyed (31%) are in favor of the presentation of such cases without regard to its character. Additionally, 17.7% of the respondents favor informing the public only with regards to certain cases, for example particularly important and shocking cases, political or economic scandals or those involving the most serious crimes. There are also individuals in this group who consider that it is possible to inform the public about any case, so long as it does not have a negative influence on the proceedings. The basic reason justifying public discussion of cases before the final court decision, in the opinion of respondents, is the obligation invested in the media to inform the public about all important legal phenomena (events). In so far as unconditional or conditional (within certain limits) presentation of the cases with the court proceedings still in progress is concerned, it is supported by about half of the respondents (48.7%), and only 28.7% of respondents are definitely against this. Concerning this situation the general belief is that there should be a final court decision issued first, otherwise the court could yield to the influence of public opinion.
In the light of the presented data, there is no doubt that the picture of courts and judges, etched into the public conscience, shapes itself in a close relationship with media transmissions, performing - as it seems - the role of basic source of information about the judiciary.
Positive and negative aspects of the influence of the media in shaping public views about the courts
Everyone knows, more or less, how important a role the independent media fulfill, constituting the crucial guarantee of democracy and the rule of law. Consequently, one should be thankful to the independent media that the society obtains knowledge on the topic of the functioning of all the supreme authorities of state administration, and thanks to the media is able to recognize if any possible abuse or injustice occurs.
Even superficial analysis of the information dominant in recent years in the media, reaching a wide audience, and referring to the activities of the judiciary, allows the perception that their definite majority concentrates on criticism of the court activity. Essentially, if daily and weekly newspapers and magazines pay attention to courts and judges, and if they do not provide coverage of well-known cases, they will focus their attention mostly on passing on information pointing to the injustice in the Polish judiciary, increasing the delay in deciding cases, resulting many times in effective complaints directed to the European Court of Human Rights, or the display of compromising mistakes of the courts. Regardless of whether the media attach significance to publicizing cases in which there exists suspicion about unethical behavior of judges, connected to violation of the rules of the independence of the judiciary (judges suspected of corruption or personal ties with the criminal element), and also other behavior discrediting to a judge in public opinion (drunkenness, fleeing the scene of an accident, etc.). The media also publicize cases of law-breaking or unethical behavior of other individuals connected with the judiciary, such as civil servants or legal experts. The media awaken interest especially with the decisions of the judicial disciplinary courts deciding on repealing judicial immunity, while most commentary concerns decisions favorable to the judge. An example of this type of characteristic case is that of Judge Zbigniew Wielkanowski of Toruń, who, despite serious suspicion of connections with members of the Toruń mafia, avoided suspension of judicial immunity for quite some time.
It is important to emphasize that critical information about the function of the judiciary indicates a specific dynamic, which in very general terms depends on an increasingly uncompromising disclosure of mistakes and abuse appearing in the judiciary. This is in a close relationship with the exposure of injustice in the function of the remaining state authorities. As far as the initial period of the transformation of the political system is concerned, the media concentrated mainly on the lack of personnel caused by the sudden departure of many judges to other law professions, an under-financed judiciary and a sluggishness in deciding caused by a growth in the jurisdiction of the courts. There was an avalanche of accumulating cases directed at the courts which remained in connection with the growth in demand of the post-communist society, whereas information appears more and more often in a later period reproaching judges with corruption and other serious offenses against the independence of the judiciary. Obviously, it is possible to make the claim that gradual increase in media criticism towards the judiciary and judges is connected with the growing tendency to disclose and condemn corruption and other abuses in all state authorities.
Additionally, it is worth underlining that the popular media make a wider, and more complete effort less and less towards an analysis of court activity, and most often limit themselves to fragmentary, but shocking information[3] (see Chećko 2001a). Among sparse, positive exceptions it is possible to mention, among others, reports from the weekly magazine Polityka and articles published in daily newspapers Gazeta Wyborcza and Rzeczpospolita (see Chećko 2001b, Rzepliński 2004).
The lack of critical but intense reflection on the topic of the weakness of Polish courts exacerbates the reluctant attitude of the judges themselves towards taking the floor in a wider forum of public discussion. Such an attitude of the judges found confirmation in the previously discussed research from 2002. The result of this is that the belief dominates among judges that the task of judges is adjudication (trying cases), and the basic form of help which they should "communicate" to the society should be making court decisions, and not appearing on the radio or television. In their opinion, an admissible and sufficient form of contact with the public should limit itself to statements from the spokespeople of the particular courts (Borucka-Arctowa 2003).
On the other hand, however, judges express a deep bias against the media's dominating attitude towards the courts. The statements of judges taking part in the aforementioned research equally prove this. It is characteristic of the opinions of the judges that they reject the presented image of the judiciary completely as basically false and highly harmful for the judicial community. These judges point out the social consequences of popularizing information about incidental cases of corruption and other abuse in the judiciary. In their opinion, chasing after sensation is an example of dangerous indulgence of public opinion and carries with it significantly more harm than good, subverting therefore, and in a groundless way, faith in the courts (see Gardocki 2004).
Disapproval of judges is particularly identified with information suggesting the judicial disciplinary of proceedings. There have been cases of overuse of the corporate solidarity of judges, which allowed judges complete immunity (see among others Sobczak 2004). Criticism directed to journalists encompasses also the belief that many journalists dealing with the subject do not possess enough knowledge of the law to allow for sensible and competent reporting of the cases, which are connected with court activity.
A number of general conclusions can be drawn from the remarks presented earlier. Firstly, we can observe the multiple and very fault-finding interests of the media in connection with the function of the courts. Popular media concentrate mostly on sensational and shocking cases. A close relationship exists between these opinions appearing in the media and the public views concerning (the topic of) the courts and judges, because ordinary citizens are bombarded with information taken out of context, which attract their attention, but dangerously deform the reality of the courts in creating a feeling of being threatened. According to John Keane (1992, p. 126) citizens lose themselves in images taken out of context...whether they want to or not, they fall into schizophrenia: they are open to everything and permanently terrified...the effect is a significant growth in critical attitude toward the courts.
At this point, however, certain questions arise: should not the opinions of the judges, who are critical towards the media deserve greater attention? Is this type of exposure of media transmission only deserving of endorsement? Should it not be postulated that journalists should approach this subject with greater responsibility, especially if they uncover facts with a high degree of shock value? These questions are rather perverse because they uncover society's serious misdeeds and abuses, which appear in the function of the state authorities, which should otherwise stand as the pillar of society and should guarantee democracy. And yet doubts appear. It seems that the key element of the effective function of the judiciary is public trust for the courts, as well as, for the judiciary (organs), which in an impartial and objective way implement justice coded legal norms. Courts, which in the belief of the citizens do not merit such trust, cease to fulfill their basic function, since the essence of the court system is embedded in the deep-seated belief of the citizens that if such a need arises, the independent court issues fair decisions.
In connection with this, it is necessary to set even more considerably difficult tasks for journalists than only engaging the appearance of negative workings present in the judiciary. The issue is significantly more difficult. It is about the realization of the responsibility of a journalist for the public good in his actions. And, besides professional objectivity and journalistic conscientiousness, this already demands greater reflection, placing individual incidents in a wider context, so that the recipient of the case does not make excessive generalization where they are not qualified, but has the possibility to improve towards a more appropriate view of the courts (compare with Sareło 2002).
[1] The percentages do not add up to 100 because some respondents appeared in various roles in court proceedings.
[2] The percentages do not add up to 100 because those surveyed had the possibility to indicate more than one source of information about the courts.
[3] For example, the court delivering a positive opinion, justifying a pardon to a convict at a time when he had a warrant issued for his arrest.
Bibliography:
Articles:
Györgyi Rétfalvi: Cyberpunk and the Postmodern
The relation of cyberpunk as a genre to that of the postmodern is a central issue of the literary canon. There seems to be an obvious parallel between the modern and that of the science fiction, as well as, between the postmodern and cyberpunk. This simple view is reflected by modern and popular culture, as well as, by the parallel notions of the postmodern and popular culture.
Larry McCaffery (1988) provides an analyses of cyberpunk's place within the universe of texts and considers the culturally dominant postmodern to be a characteristic breakthrough between popular culture and high culture. This horizontal view of high culture and popular culture allows for the opposition to be eliminated and thereby become part of the literary canon.
Since Jameson (1991) the statement that there is a definite advancement between the postmodern and popular culture is unavoidable. Jameson sees the postmodern not as a stylistic unit, but as a culturally dominant one. The difference lies in the openness between the stylistic unit and that of cultural dominance: the stylistic unit is characterized by somewhat more closely linked units, while that of the culturally dominant is: „...a conception which allows for the presence and coexistence of a range of very different, yet subordinate, features."
Though Jameson and Abádi Nagy (1987) do not make use of the term postmodern as a unified element, but as a different entity. With reference to contradictory notions in heated discussions on the postmodern he writes the following: "There is not one pole between these inconsistent pairs that would be valid for an entire postmodern novel. However, viewed as a whole, this is true for all constituents. If these tendencies are to prevail with every different grouping, with every author and work, as well as, from a different perspective, within the same literary work.
This double tendency of questioning the borderlines is a typical characteristic of the postmodern." (Abádi Nagy 1987, p.14) In following the thoughts expressed by Jameson and Abádi Nagy, Ernő Kulcsár Szabó maintains, that the postmodern is difficult to access, because its spiritual dimension may be measured with those of the literary epochs, and simultaneously "without being able to link even the artistic form of the postmodern with a common stylistic feature." (Kulcsár Szabó1996, p.235)
In beginning with the architectural postmodern Jameson asserts that „However we may wish to evaluate this populist rhetoric, it has at least the merit of drawing our attention to one fundamental feature of all the postmodernisms enumerated above: namely, the effacement in them of the older (essentially high-modernist) frontier between high culture and so-called mass or commercial culture, and the emergence of new kinds of texts infused with the forms, categories, and contents of that very culture industry so passionately denounced by all the ideologues of the modern, from Leavis and the American New Criticism all the way to Adorno and the Frankfurt School. The postmodernisms have, in fact, been fascinated precisely by this whole "degraded" landscape of schlock and kitsch, of TV series and Reader's Digest culture, of advertising and motels, of the late show and the grade-B Hollywood film, of so-called paraliterature, with its airport paperback categories of the gothic and the romance, the popular biography, the murder mystery, and the science fiction or fantasy novel: materials they no longer simply "quote as a Joyce or a Mahler might have done, but incorporate into their very substance." (Jameson 1991) Jameson simultaneously disapproves of the homogenizing tendency of the postmodern literary text form, which within the simulacra effect-mechanism extinguishes its differentiating elements by placing each tradition and text form side-by-side. The gradually increasing reception (Jameson 1991, McHale 1992, Kulcsár Szabó 1996, etc.) emphasizes that (it is vital for cyberpunk culture) feedback and recycling are postmodern elements.
Jameson localizes, but does not evaluate "his ironical tolerance in view of the tradition of the postmodern" (Bényei 2000, p.47), while William Gibson enjoys discoursing about the blending of the postmodern (after all he is able to stress his own legitimacy through such a loose concept of tradition):
„LM: The breakdown of distinctions - between pop culture and "serious" culture, different genres, different art forms - seems to have had a liberating effect on writers of your generation.
WG: The idea that all this stuff is potentially grist for your mill has been very liberating. This process of cultural mongrelization seems to be what postmodernism is all about. The result is a generation of people (some of whom are artists) whose tastes are wildly eclectic - people who are hip to punk music and Mozart, who rent these terrible horror and SF videos from the 7-11 one night and then invite you to a mud wrestling match or a poetry reading the next. If you're a writer, the trick is to keep your eyes and ears open well enough to let all this in but also, somehow, to recognize intuitively what you should let emerge in your work, how effective something might be in a specific context. I know I don't have a sense of writing as being divided up into different compartments, and I don't separate literature from the other arts. Fiction, television, music, film- all provide material in the form of images and phrases and codes that creep into my writing in ways both deliberate and unconscious." (McCaffery 1991, p.266)
The reception has stressed -a very striking feature in cyberpunk literature, - the importance of the principles of the film, which may be considered very typical of postmodern prose. The essential features of the film are not only used in the modern representations of the film in prose, but a whole lot more: the various devices of the film, recycling and feedback of television and music all emphasize the ontological aspect of postmodern cyberpunk prose. These are, at the same time, the signs of that ironical tolerance, which looks toward an expression of postmodern consumer culture.
Jameson (1991) reflects on the reasons for these tendencies, and asserts, that the relation between the sub-system of culture to that of the economic sub-system is different within the postmodern. He does not wish to differentiate himself, as he did in modernity, but willingly submits the idiosyncrasy to the necessity of the economic sub-system, both in its use of device, and in its use of content and theme, but in turning this given relation around one can also say that: the economic sub-system may also focus on the cultural sub-system, too. With the aesthetic work of art becoming part of the production an obvious duality is observable, though repetition, quality, and the brand being basis of commercial culture has lead to the development of a race, whereby large scale production is dependent upon originality and newer and newer products. This irreconcilable opposition forces the producers of mass culture to provide a greater scope for aesthetic developments and experiments. (Jameson 1991) Similarly, Baudrillard (1993) calls our attention to the opposition (Fiske 1989) within the particularity of popular culture by asserting that by analyzing the producing method of commercial culture, it is quite easy to see the similarity in the fact, that the material and cultural goods have been submitted to the same "current" purpose. Baudrillard contrary to Jameson maintains, that this is not the result of culture spreading because of its industrialized methods, but the compelling force of the communication system, where the necessity of being constantly up-to-date, being forced into this process of communication eventually and logically leads to an absence of interest between mass culture and high culture (referred to as avant-garde in Baudrillard's work). Ernő Kulcsár Szabó sums up the problem in the following: "The epochal artistic ontological realization as to what postmodernity means may be attributed to the fact that in the high-tech societies the conventional character has through a complete change in the aesthetic quality, parallel with an ideology, practically lead to its disappearance; the aestheticality of the societies in everyday life represents the ideological world view of the late bourgeois." (Kulcsár Szabó 1996, p. 248)
This tendency gives birth to the all encompassing postmodern eclectic, which is an aesthetic quality that seeks to reproduce and show itself to the outside world. Postmodern art, through high culture (especially because of its classical, scholarly modern and avant-garde superiority), looks toward the audience that has been left to itself up to now.
The Hungarian reception has, though not without protest, taken over the American postmodern formula concerning the disintegration of the borders between popular culture and high culture. Zoltán Abádi Nagy (1987) sums up his assessment of the basic postmodern world-view by defining the mass society and mass media through a general feeling of loss within mass culture.
The positive relation between mass culture and the postmodern may be felt in the increasing stability of recycling and feedback, and it is in the manifestation of the system of relation where the differentiating essence of the postmodern may be felt, both from the classical modern and from the avant-garde. The avant-garde has systematically distanced itself from mass culture and turned away from the cultural tradition, as well, while the classical modern has placed insurmountable barriers between itself and mass culture by making use of and ridiculing the manifestations of mass culture. This obstacle, between tradition and itself or even mass culture and itself, is easily transgressed by the postmodern and takes whatever it requires without the slightest of scruples from all kinds of cultural traditions. Transgression occurs not only between the various cultural levels, but also between their languages. And this occurs with all its consequences. If high and popular culture becomes less and less distinguishable through its language then the barriers will eventually fall and become traversable. According to Tamás Bényei, the thematics and resources of mass culture have the effect of unsettling high culture. "And if this is possible, then the genre, as a suppressed form, most closely connected to mass culture is potentially capable of - perhaps it this cultural suppression that brings about this latent inner capacity, - giving expression to unuttered contents, questions, collective emotions and inner anxieties." (Bényei 2000, p.42)
In his works dealing with cyberpunk Ferenc Kömlődi argues passionately and in the tone determined by the cyberpunk movement concerning the blending of the different cultural levels. In his view: "Only the nineteenth century rear-guard fighters differentiate," (Kömlődi 1996a, p.52) between high and mass culture, and this distinction of high and mass culture, writes Kömlődi reprovingly, "is merely an arbitrary hermeneutic interpretation of scholarly aesthetics" after all "the consumer acceptance of artistic works are determined by a wholly different criteria". (Kömlődi 1996a, p.52) He further gives expression to his views in the Fénykatedrális in saying that: "The confrontation of high culture and popular culture, or even a comparison of the two is now wholly out of fashion and even unnecessary, because there are no distinct boundaries any longer." (Kömlődi 1996b, p.43)
In interpreting McCaffery, Brian McHale cautions with slight scholarly irony in viewing Jameson's theory: „Larry McCaffery, author of the chapter on „The Fictions of the Present" in the Columbia Literary History, explains SF's new legitimacy in terms of the alleged collapse of hierarchical distinctions between high and low art, between „official" high culture and popular or mass culture, in the postmodern period. This is one of the most potent myths of postmodernist culture and cultural critique (see Jameson 1983, 1991a:2-3; Huyssen 1986), and one that postmodernist writers themselves (including SF writers) seem to find irresistibly attractive. ... In fact, of course, the myth of the collapse of hierarchical distinctions in postmodern culture is just that, a myth, and the institutions for the production, distribution, and consumption of high culture to be distinct from those for popular culture, regardless of whatever promiscuous minglings of cultural strata may occur inside certain texts." (McHale 1992, pp.225-226)
McHale, however, warns that the producing, distributing and consumer institutions of high culture, though the cultural levels mingle within the text, continue to differentiate from one another. This fact is quite noticeable concerning the Hungarian Gibson publications, where the publishers, the headlines and the translations carry the typical characteristics of mass culture. As a very appropriate example one may consider Dániel Molnár's translation (published only on the internet) of Gibson's short novella titled Fragments of a Hologram Rose, which enables the text to be read from various angles surpasses all of the Hungarian translations of cyberspace trilogy. Obviously, this has to do with the differentiating attitude of the Hungarian translator, and not with Gibson's quality of writing undergoing any kind of change. The reason for the change in the translator's attitude is because the reception of Gibson's body of works has also undergone changes since the very first translations. A process of canonization has begun in Hungary, too, and Gibson's works are now being critically assessed from a scholarly and literary perspective by intellectual groupings to which Dániel Molnár also belongs.
McHale (1992) continues with his warning by emphasizing that with the blending of the cultural levels becoming obvious one of the most important features of cyberpunk as a genre would lead to a decrease in its inner force. This is the theory of inorganic assimilation, which functions well because of the existing hierarchical structure of cultural elements. If the elements were homogeneous, then cyberpunk would not be able to provide that bit of extra by assimilating inorganic elements.
McHale (1992) further weakens Jameson's fascinating theory by warning that modernism (though it is commonly known to have many interpretations) may confront the postmodern with only one relevant interpretation in its effect of release. Other modernist authors have also made use of popular patterns and genres, and not only in an ironic or burlesque manner that Jameson used them. And it is McHale (1992), who provides a release from this uncertainty, because the truth of the matter is, that even though the modern makes use of pop elements, still it does it with a completely different attitude than that of the postmodern. The modern rejected and tried to conceal the fact that it borrows from popular culture, while the postmodern openly admits to using the patterns of popular culture on which its art is dependent.
To conclude, one must admit that McHale is correct in saying that the blending of high culture is not sufficient to differentiate between the postmodern and the modern. This in-between cultural process had begun earlier in both directions and had recently quite uncontrollably increased in speed, but this tendency also shows the difference between the two culturally dominant views due to the changes in attitude concerning one's relation to pop-culture. One can say, that in the age of the postmodern there is a convergence between mass culture and high culture, and that we are not dealing with the influence of a hidden, shy, illegal or even selective matter.
Mass culture, according to Tamás Bényei (2000), to a certain effect pervades high culture. He sees the postmodern as being the result of the spreading of the metaphysical anti-detective story and that it replaces the classical crime fiction in its modern approach to being projective, orderly, in seeking a solution and with it a conclusion: and this being the symbol of the disintegration of the modern scheme. The analogy is obvious: the orderliness of science fiction and the contradictory entropical structure of cyberpunk may be extended to that process within the postmodern, which focuses on the symbolic demolishing of the great narratives (from Lyotard) and the schemes of the modern. The experiences of the postmodern show that advanced technical development have failed to accomplish the schemes of modernity. Man of modernity may feel that humanity has reached a universal model of social structure, a technique of cognition, through which it may fulfill the great promise of revelation. This means, that man may extend his own horizon, become more rational, while science continues to develop, and through techno-science this world will become the best of all worlds. Due to the omnipotence of man and science great and informal myths were born on how the world is progressing, and that everything has its logically ordered place. The man of the postmodern sees not only that the projects have not been fulfilled, but also the fact that they never will.
"What is going to follow the post? Most likely a modern one. The illusion of creating order has disappeared, like the disintegration of ecstasy. Techno-culture does not hope for any private or collective distinction: it diagnoses a society of chaos. The signs gradually form an anti-system." Writes Kömlődi (1995, p.6). The essential self-expression of this view is represented by the postmodern cyberpunk, a fusion of mass culture and high culture.
The relation of science fiction / modern cyberpunk / postmodern is also stressed by Veronica Hollinger (1991): "Genre SF thrives within an epistemology that privileges the logic of cause-and-effect narrative development and it usually demonstrates a rather optimistic belief in the progress of human knowledge. Appropriately, the space ship was its representative icon during the 1940s and 1950s, the expansionist "golden age" of American SF. Equally appropriately, genre SF can claim the realist novel as its closest narrative relative; both developed in an atmosphere of nineteenth-century scientific positivism and both rely to a great extent on the mimetic transparency of language as a "window" through which to provide views of a relatively uncomplicated human reality. When SF is enlisted by postmodernist fiction, however, it becomes integrated into an aesthetic and a worldview whose central tenets are an uncertainty and indeterminacy which call into question the "causal interpretation of the universe" (Ebert 1980, p.92) and the reliance on a "rhetoric of believability" (Ebert 1980, p.92), which virtually define it as a generic entity." (Hollinger 1991, pp.203-204) One part of the reception emphasizes that modern fiction is defined by the epistemological culture dominance, while postmodern fiction basically through an ontological constraint. According to Bukatman (1992), cyberpunk is the postmodern condition of science fiction, where the subjective, based on its ontological status as well, integrates into a mechanical or artificial reality. This is what McHale and Hollinger sees as being missing from cyberpunk: "At best, however, the critique of humanism in these works remains incomplete, due at least in part to the pressures of mass market publishing as well as to the limitations of genre conventions which, more or less faithfully followed, seem (inevitably?) to lure writers back into the power fantasies so common SF." (Hollinger 1991, pp.216-217)
Parallel with this view and Jameson's theory Brian McHale cautions and suggests that there is still a borderline between high and popular culture in the postmodern age, and that cyberpunk (though Mchale is writing about the cyberpunk, still he makes his references to the genre of science fiction) is situated on the pop culture side of the borderline. He also argues, that the similarities doubtlessly found in cyberpunk and the postmodern novel can be explained by an independent and parallel (McHale 1991) development. I consider some of Mchale's arguments unacceptable. By analyzing the presence of the Gravity Rainbow in the cyberpunk texts, or the intertextuality of the Gibson texts in Acker‘s work, he contradicts himself by proving that the development did not occur independently, but as a result of a conscious advancement. Mchale's bending of the truth is done in order to avoid having literary scholarship lose its accepted position. And by placing this dilemma not only in the central focus of his articles, but also his lengthier work, Constructing Postmodernism, - in which several chapters alone deal with the topic, - he, too, takes part in the legitimizing process of the genre.
A cyberpunk feminine theorist, Caren Cadora, attacks Cyberpunk's post modernity from a different angle. Cadora (2001) sees the failure of cyberpunk in the fact that it evades the theme of the feminist tradition of science fiction in a politically incorrect manner and does not provide an answer to the ontological questions of the postmodern age. A reestablishment is achieved by feminist cyberpunk, thereby opening up new horizons before a virtually dying cyberpunk, and giving new life to the relation of the postmodern and cyberpunk. Samuel Delany and Veronica Hollinger (1991) are of the view, too, that it is wrong of cyberpunk to forget about making a reference of feminist science fiction being its forerunner in its manifestations. It would, however, be too easy to leave this as being the only explanation for the failure of cyberpunk. The reason for the short-windedness of cyberpunk lies more in the fact that the cyberpunk mode of language being a thematic sub-category (I suggest the use of the term cyberpunk romance as being appropriate) of the postmodern romance has gradually run out of topics to choose from and virtually extinguished itself.
To the challenges of popular culture Umberto Eco (1996) provides an answer on several levels, or to use a more adequate phrase by Jákfalvi-Kappanyos (1990), a manifold readability. The correction of Eco's terminology is important, because the term ‘many-leveled' suggests a hierarchical relation between the various levels of culture, whereas ‘manifold' allows for the disintegration of the hierarchical structure. According to Eco the various cultural levels mutually complement each other, and one need only strive for all the directions to be satisfactorily received by the given audience.
In an interview Gibson and McCaffery respond in the following manner to this postmodern theme:
"L.M.: Sounds like a virus. W.G.: - It is - and only a certain kind of host is going to be able to allow the thing to keep expanding in an optimal way. As you can imagine, the structure of a book like Neuromancer becomes very complicated at a certain point. It wasn't complicated in the "admirably complex" way that you find in Pynchon's novels, but simply in the sense that all these odds and ands started to affect and infect one another. L.M.: Does knowing that most readers won't recognize many of these references bother you? Obviously, they don't have to know that "Big Science" is a song by Laurie Anderson in order to catch the drift of what you're suggesting; but if they do know the song, it might broaden the nature of their response. W.G.: I enjoy the idea that some levels of the text are closed to most readers. Of course, writers working in popular forms should be aware that readers aren't always going to respond subtleties - though that isn't as weird as finding out that people are missing the whole point of what you think you're doing, whether it's thinking you're being ironic when you're not, or being serious when you're trying to make fun or something." (McCaffery 1991, p.267)
Miklós Almási (1992) explains, that the sensitivity of reception in that tendency of the arts has undergone a trauma. This is due to the fact that the artists create and produce artifacts that have a supercharged and drastic effect, because only by making use of such extreme measures can they achieve in getting a reaction from the otherwise immune audience. The initial value of the aesthetic perception increases and having been trained on serving the various reception attitudes contemporary art is forced to making more and more drastic transgressions. (Almási 1992) It is essential to integrate a manifold readability into the postmodern novel so that the audience that has been left to itself may be tempted to begin reading again by presenting them with readable texts. This is at once the tendency implied by the citations, the dramatical increase in intertextuality as being one of the most important elements of the postmodern, and by maintaining the possibility of providing texts that produce an intellectual experience as a form of reception. This idea is well demonstrated in a Hungarian cyberpunk novel titled Jake Smiles 1 Link, (2001) which is full of so called ‘guest' texts that feed from almost every cultural tradition and quotes without any restraint from anyone, anywhere and any medium.
Bibliography
Tamara Paguta: Future Teachers' Training for Pedagogically Creative Work
The article deals with the historical and pedagogical aspects of the formation of a creative teacher personality; in the following the means and methods of the creation of the future teacher is to be shown.
One of the actual problems in pedagogy is the future teachers' training for a pedagogically creative work. According to a conception of the modern development of pedagogical education society demands the further improvement of pedagogical training and the development of retraining. Pedagogical education is called upon to establish the teacher's‘ creative formation, because it is the teacher, who is able to develop a child's personality, and to direct a student toward a personal and professional self-perfection. It is the teacher who is able to work non-typically, knows how to arouse the children's interest in study, who is good at organizing the pupils' collective work according to their age peculiarities, and who develops the pupils' personality and promotes the development of the pupils' creative and harmonious abilities.
Pedagogically creative work is the original and high-effective teacher's approach to educational tasks, the enrichment of the educational theory and practice. The achievement of this creative result is provided by a systematical observation using the pedagogical experiment, and the critical usage of the progressive pedagogical experience.
The problem of the teacher's pedagogical creation is reflected upon in the works of foreign scientists and scientists of our country, such as: J. Lokk, J.J. Russo, A. Disterverg. K. Ushinskiy, S. Rusova, B. Grinchenko, L. Tolstoy, S. Shatskiy, A. Makarenko, V. Sukhomlinskiy and others. The soul of our national school is its teacher. A teacher, according to Ushinskyi, is the creator, the artist in his branch, but he is not an executor of different pedagogical rules and recipes. Its creative character determines the level of pedagogical proficiency. An experienced teacher creates the new methods himself or herself.
S. Rusova always demanded from the teacher something creative and skillful; the ability to take into consideration the national character within education, and the in-depth knowledge and many-sided skills as being some of the essential concepts being taught to a child.
The outstanding pedagogue, S. Shatskyi, realizing the necessity of special teacher training in creative personality organized for many years courses, seminars, conferences for school, preschool and out-of-school staff. He wanted to erase the established concept from the students' minds that the adults stop being creative. According to S. Shatskyi, a creative component in the activity of pedagogical profession is the inalienable feature of his work.
The analysis of V. Sukhomlinsky's pedagogical heritage indicates a creative character, as well.
"The question of what exactly switches on the spark of creation, appears when you want to have your work improve and when you are anxious as to why your efforts do not lead to the expected results", - wrote V. Sukhomlinskyi in his work, A dialogue with a young schoolmaster. The outstanding pedagogue found the greatest enjoyment of life in creative work, which borders on art. "The way to wisdom and science is through work" - he announced.
The problem of pedagogical creation was considered both from a pedagogical and a psychological point of view. This concept was examined in particular from a pedagogical point of view, and as such the pedagogue's activity by such scientists as I. Dmytryk, V. Zagoyazinskiy, Kan-Kalyk, N. Kichyk, B. Krasovskyi, N, Kyz'mina, M.Kykhariv, K. Levitan, Y. L'vova, L. Luzina, M. Nikandrov, S. Sysoeva, R. Skylskiy, V. Slastyonin, P. Shevchenco and others. A. Markova studied the psychology of pedagogical work; works of F. Gonobolin, M. Kyshakov, M. Levitov, A. Shcherbacov dealt with pedagogical abilities; and works by such scientists as O. Kovalyov, V. Mjasyshchev, V. Molyako, B. Teplov and S. Rubinshtein dealt with the notions of creative abilities.
In particular, V. Zagbyazinskiy interpreted the importance of pedagogical creation and its role in the educational process as being necessary conditions and sources within the process of forming the pedagogue's creative personality.
Experts such as Kan-Kalyk and Nikandrow analyzed such problems as the "pedagogical ideal and creative individuality, as being the "algebra" of pedagogical creation".
Works by Kinchyk deal with the elements of professional teacher training conducted within teacher training colleges.
N. Kykhariv and V. Reshet'ko defined the conditions that influence the forming of the creative pedagogue: knowledge of the pedagogical and psychological educational basis; love of children; depth of knowledge in area of study; appropriate personal features; moral appearance; level of leading activity; inherent teaching techniques; an aspiration for the study of a progressive pedagogical experience; knowledge of the individual pupils' peculiarities; ability to plan individual work and teach it to pupils; development of the pupils' cognitive interest; to create a suitable micro-climate within the collective; objective appraisal of the pupils' knowledge; the development of the pupils' individual abilities; the ability to provide information free of excess emotion; the ability of the teacher to provide a prognosis; collegial relationships; psychological sagacity; and to be able to place yourself in the pupils' place. Works by V. Ivanova, O. Mil'to, R. Skyl'skiy deal with the question of training future teachers based on pedagogical activity.
A teacher must have creative pedagogical abilities to be able to work as a creative person.
M. Levitov considers pedagogical abilities as features that are connected with the different sides of successful pedagogical activity. Among these qualities he defines the ability to pass on knowledge to children in a short and interesting form; self-dependent and creative thinking; resource-fullness or quick and exact orientation; and a talent for organization.
Most psychologists consider abilities from the point of activity. Analysts, such as O. Kovalyov, V. M'yasyschev, V. Molyako, B. Teplov, and S. Rubinstein view, that the abilities are a synthesis of properties and qualities, which provide a successful fulfillment to any kind of activity. The abilities are divided into general and special features. Creative abilities concern general features as they are found at any level and in any sphere of vital activity.
The analysis of pedagogical and psychological literature emphasizes, that creative abilities have a compound structure. This question was considered in the context of studying the general creative abilities in many types of activity (by ananlysts such as V. Andreev, G. Bell, D. Bogojavlenska, L. Venger, N. Lejtes, I. Lerner, O. Luk, G. Ponomaryov).
So, V. Andreev and O. Yakovlev view the motivative and the creative activity, intellectual and logical, heuristic, self-organizational and communicative ability as being important components of the creative ability.
Lerner considers the development of the creative ability vital in passing on to children the experience of creative activity, and defines the process based on the following qualities: independent transfer of adopted earlier knowledge and skills to a new situation; viewing a new problem as a standard condition; a search for alternative decision; and combining ways of making a decision. He divides creative abilities into three groups: abilities connected with motivation (interests and bents); abilities connected with temperament (emotional features); and intellectual faculties.
Among the components of creative abilities (according to V. Molyako) there is the originality in objective achievement; criticism and self-criticism; flexibility of mind; courage and strength; and energy.
One of the main conditions of the development of the creative personality is the interaction between outside and inside factors. That is between inclinations located genetically, and factors, which influence the development of the creative abilities, namely the content of subjects, the system of creative tasks, which takes into account the peculiarities of the pupils' individuality and age, and the organization of the educational and cognitive activity.
The teacher as a creative personality must be trained at institutions of higher education. That is why we decided to ascertain the means and methods by which one must do such work.
The training for professional pedagogical activity must take into account the element of individuality within the educational process. Being a professional teacher is possible only at a personal level, because certain factors must be considered such as the objective treatment of knowledge, even though its interpretation is subjective. Choosing teaching material and determining its interpretation depends upon the perspective of the world, knowledge of different phenomena or processes, pedagogical equipment, and general and professional culture.
Pedagogical disciplines are important criteria in a future system of teachers' training as a professional activity, but the possibilities must be realized completely: students are not drawn to actively participating in practical activity, they do not pay attention to the development of professional qualities and the individual style of pedagogical activity; they are not acquainted with the pedagogical heritage of outstanding experts. As a result, students are in possession of a system of pedagogical knowledge and skills, oriented towards a realization of educational standards, but unable to present their own pedagogical creativity.
By modeling pedagogical tasks in the form of pedagogical situation and solution it is possible to overcome difficulties. This type of work is conducted in the lecture courses, practices and laboratory classes in pedagogy. Students carefully discuss educational arrangements and play them out in the course titled "Methods of educational work". Providing such individually oriented courses as "The Basis of Pedagogical Skills" and "The Basis of Pedagogical Activity" promotes a positive result in forming creative abilities. The study of these subjects helps avoid future contradictions, which may cause problems. These courses promote the forming of professionalism; show their creative nature, and a teacher's personality and its realization in pedagogical activity.
Senior students construct the technologies of productive models within their teaching practice; and students learn and generalize a progressive pedagogical experience.
Teaching practice also promotes the development of creative abilities. This is held in special type of schools, where only so called creative pedagogical staff work. During their teaching practice students have the possibility of adopting and acquiring teaching experience.
So, students at the International University must take teaching practice as a basis of their first degree with an intensive study in English language. This experiment allows for the development of a creative personality within a junior scholar. It is necessary to be a creative person to develop creativity within the pupils. And scientific and experimental work is necessary for the formation of the creative personality.
So, the most effective influence for this process of formation is the pedagogical creation, which is stressed by the following conditions:
Bibliography:
Milverton Wallace: Notes Towards a Literacy for the Digital Age
The kid enters the coffee shop and is greeted excitedly by her friends. They jostle to exchange high fives, knuckle greetings and finger snaps with her.
What is the cause of their admiration? Her Rocaway jeans? Her high tan Jimmy Choo boots? Her Armani sun-glasses? Her Karl Lagerfeld jacket? Nah! It is the gleaming silver object dangling from a pair of white wires plugged into her ears.
It is an iPod, the must-have digital gadget of today's young people. With this tiny digital audio player Apple stole Napster's thunder and replaced the CD player as the cutting-edge portable music player of choice.
But if you think this is just another device for playing pre-recorded music, think again. Within two years of the iPod's debut, developers had created software to allow anyone to produce audio content -- words and music -- for it and other portable digital players. This technology, known as podcasting, turns consumers into producers, and every wannabe DJ and talk-show host into broadcasters. It is a distribution channel that plugs directly into the hippest, hottest communication network on the planet.
In advanced industrial countries, and increasingly in less-developed regions, social life is being digitised. Cheap camera phones and videocams allow everyday activities to be recorded and stored on personal computers or online services; more and more conversations are conducted via email, IM and SMS; private thoughts, opinions and reflections on public affairs or private passions are instantly posted on weblogs. Because they are in digital form, all these different types of record -- moving images, photographs, sounds and texts -- can be stored on computers. And the Internet makes it possible for all of this to be shared with family, friends and strangers.
Welcome to the agora of the 21st century, a space where a diverse array of digital modes of communication intersect in cyberspace -- email, instant messaging, text messaging, multimedia messaging, weblogging, audioblogging, moblogging, mobcasting, podcasting.
Like it or not, this is the new cultural landscape for learning, entertainment, and communicating with each other. And it is being constructed without consultation with, or permission from, regulatory authorities or self-appointed gatekeepers.
All well and good, but what is the point of all this digital g-soup when school-leavers cannot spell and do sums, or believe Winston Churchill was an insurance salesman? Relax. This is not the end of literacy, just a groping towards a new kind of literacy, which is capable of fulfilling the knowledge acquisition, informational and cultural needs of the digital age.
There is nothing immutable about the mental and manual competences that constitute literacy. What it means to be literate has constantly changed throughout the ages as economic, social and cultural necessities impose new demands on the population. In addition, the number and classes of people, who needed to possess these competences have changed. In ancient Egypt, the ability to read and write, and therefore to manage the state, was a monopoly of the priestly caste and court officials. On the other hand, the assembly, the council and the court, the key institutions of the first democracy in Athens, championed by the literate Pericles, were made up primarily of ordinary people[1] who were mostly educated in the oral, not the literate, culture of 5th century BC Greece. In both cases the vast majority of the people did not need to be literate; you did not need reading, writing and arithmetic to be a farmer, an artisan or a soldier[2]. The same was true in the ancient Chinese, Persian, Babylonian and Roman empires.
The industrial age changed everything. The mass manufacturing of goods, the introduction of machine tools and the technologizing of ancient craft skills required a work force, which could read, write, and do sums. The ceaseless need to innovate in order to remain competitive forced workers to think critically and creatively about the industrial processes in which they were engaged. This led them to invent new goods and technologies to feed the insatiable engine of industrial capitalism. For the first time in human history, education, both literary and technical, became a job requirement.
Thus the invention of printing was a pre-requisite of the industrial age[3]. Mechanical reproduction of texts was superseded by mass production of books and newspapers to satisfy the growing need for widespread diffusion of the elements of literacy required for industrial production and social advancement.
Mass production of information and knowledge produced the mass media, which by the end of the 19th century became a monolith that controlled access to information about everyday life. Other information monopolies arose during the period, most based on close and exclusive control of specialized knowledge: trade guilds, which regulated the transmission of craft skills; learned societies and associations, which regulated access to scientific information and entry into the professions. These and other institutions were important in codifying and regulating the competences, which powered industrial production and commerce. However, the mass media occupy a special place because of their central role in the organization and control of social communications, and hence the structure of cultural, political and economic life[4].
The trouble with monopolies is not only that they tend to centralize power, but they also wield this power to enforce their definitions of reality on the world. So the scientific establishment decrees that a particular body of knowledge is "science", and everything else is hocus-pocus; the medical authorities declare that a favoured corpus of practices is "medicine", and all others are quackery; and the teaching profession holds that literacy is the three "Rs", and evermore shall it be.
But these edicts are losing their force and authority as people first challenge the information/knowledge monopolies and then develop their own communication media to find things out for themselves and explore truths other than received wisdom or the official version. Rather than the established media talking to them, people are talking to one another in their own self-created space, their own time and at their own speed[5].
To participate in creating this autonomous space, you must possess not only the print literacy of the industrial age but also the competences required to engage in online conversations and be at ease with using 21st century digital products and services.
What are the competencies that should be included in any model of literacy for the digital age?
First, you should get used to interacting with screen-based devices for sending, receiving and viewing digital information because this is the way one interacts with the interface -- the collection of words, icons, buttons, menus, and other symbols -- connecting the user to the database which stores the data and the network which transmits it. To interact with your computers, mobile phones, PDAs, media players etc requires that you have the knowledge to understand these symbols and the tactile skills to manipulate them to achieve a desired purpose e.g., open a document, save a file, view a picture, play a song, send a message.
Second, you must be able to create a document, store it and retrieve it at a later date. By "document" is meant any information element or object in digital form -- words, pictures, sounds, still and moving images.
Third, you need to acquire some knowledge of the theory and practice of hypermedia[6], because it is in this space that information is communicated on the screens of computers and digital media devices. A paper document allows only text and two-dimensional images, while radio and television have been completely linear media. The hypermedia document, now the standard form in which information is displayed and communicated, is changing all that. By allowing interaction with non-linear, multi-dimensional documents to take place, it has radically altered the practice of reading and writing.
Hypermedia is the electronic palette on which diverse information objects -- texts, still and moving images and sound -- combine. Cross-referencing devices called hyperlinks allow us to create a non-linear mode of information production and consumption, which follows more closely the patterns of thought. Hyperlinks are gateways to other "objects" -- click on one and the desired object is retrieved and played. This is the typical organization of a Web document.
But some features of a hypermedia document are counter-intuitive (or, at least, contrary to the processes we have learned through paper-age education) and so require new literacies in order to make sense of the message.
For example, a key feature of a hypermedia composition is that all objects have equal status, so the document is open-ended. The objects can be read -- and possibly understood -- in any order, so you can enter the hypermedia space at any point, and structure your reading of the story in any manner you choose. As a result, each individual reading experience is different, as are the connections and associations made.
We have to learn how to use this space, to make sense of it. How do we critically evaluate what we see and hear? How do we assign weight and significance to the objects? Clearly, we need to learn to use a range of tools to help us evaluate the accuracy, authority, completeness, bias and timeliness of the information.
This goes against much that we know about written communication since the invention of the codex, the form of the book that succeeded the scroll as the repository of written knowledge and culture.
The codex transformed the way texts were written -- introducing page numbers, chapters, indexing -- and therefore the way authors constructed their work. It also changed the reading process: readers could now navigate from one page to another with ease, quickly find specific items, mark passages for future reference, and write while reading. The codex introduced a linear order and sequence in which texts are to be read and understood and a hierarchy of elements -- title page, imprint, contents page, preface, introduction, main body, references, bibliography, appendices. To be literate meant understanding these elements and what they signify.
The book is both receptacle and transmitter of knowledge. The change in its material form, from scroll to codex, engendered a revolution in writing and reading. People had to learn new skills in order to produce and consume information and knowledge in the new form. The same is the case with the change to a screen-based, hypertext form of information and knowledge creation and dissemination, with one big difference.
The move from an oral to a literary culture was a drastic change from social, collective learning to private, individual learning; from the primacy of the voice to the primacy of the text; from understanding of the world through public performances and storytelling to understanding through private reading and personal reflection. Now these two modes are united in cyberspace as hypermedia combines almost all aspects of oral and literary cultures. Every minute of every day the Internet buzzes with the sound of music and of voices in many tongues; with animations and videos in glorious technicolor: with words and pictures; with the colour of magic, to paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke[7].
Here is the genius of cyberspace: it has created a world of endless possibilities by refusing to be constrained by what went before.
In most cosmologies, the world begins with the Word. In the pre-industrial and industrial eras, two expressions of the Word, reading and writing, have been central to people's notion of literacy. Digital technology does not abolish literacy; what it augurs is a radical re-definition of it. This is nothing new -- we have been there before. Think of the momentous, world-changing shift from oral to print culture; think also of the changes in writing instruments (stone, stick, pen), writing materials (bark, leaf, clay tablet, parchment, paper), text production processes (from handwriting to hot-metal printing, from lithography to laser printing) and the intellectual and technical adjustments required to deal with them.
As the digitization of economic, social and cultural life gathers pace, those who embrace and internalize the literacy of the digital age will be so much better off than those who do not.
So if you are an educator, desperate to interest our iPod kid and her friends in your remedial classes; a health information officer anxious to get the message of safe sex to her and her cohorts; a training instructor eager to recruit them on a job skills programme; get familiar with their world. You will not be able to communicate with them if you do not.
[1] See C. L. R. James, Every Cook Can Govern: A Study of Democracy in Ancient Greece. Correspondence, 2 (12) June 1956. http://www.marxists.org/archive/james-clr/works/1956/06/every-cook.htm
[2] Even if they wanted to acquire literacy, they couldn't. Only rich individuals and families could afford to buy books. Papyrus and parchment, the materials on which most books in Europe were written until the introduction of paper from China (via Korea, Japan, India, Baghdad and Damascus) in the 12th century AD, were scarce and expensive commodities. Moreover, several ingredients-the technique of papermaking, the invention of printing, the spread of religion, public education and libraries, the development of the scientific method, the Industrial Revolution etc--had to come together before mass literacy became possible, desirable and necessary for societies. And it took more than two thousand years after the first flowering of Athenian democracy for these conditions to become a reality. (Note that the fabled ancient libraries at Nineveh, Alexandria, Pergamum and Herculaneum were for the use of clerics, scholars and rulers, not the masses).
[3] See Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (Cambridge University Press, 1982) for an excellent treatment of the way the spread of printing contributed to the Protestant Reformation, the Renaissance and the scientific revolution, and, therefore, modern liberal democracies and the industrial society.
[4] See Harold Innis, Empire and Communication (University of Toronto Press, 1972) and The Bias of Communication (University of Toronto Press, 1964) for a discussion of the relationship between the dominant mode and technical properties of communication and the social, political and economic organisation of society. Innis argues that fundamental changes in social structures come about when the old, dominant form of communication is challenged and replaced by new forms.
[5] Dan Gillmor, former technology columnist on the San Jose Mercury News, describes this movement in the arena of news gathering and dissemination as "citizen journalism". See his book, We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People (O'Reilly Media, 2004).
[6] Jakob Nielsen, Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond (AP Professional, 1995).
[7] "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". Quoted in Profiles of the Future by Arthur C. Clarke (Victor Gollancz, 1999).
Zbigniew Oniszczuk: The Formation of the Media Policy (Medienpolitik) of the Goverment of the Federal Republic of Germany in the years 1949-1989
Editor's summary
The mass media became in the 20th c. and particularly after the Second War, an important element of every state organism, which is why the creation of the conditions and principles according to the mass communication should take place is the aim of a given state's political actions called a media policy. In the case of the Federal Republic of Germany, Medienpolitik became an integral part of the political parties' and the government's programs at the beginning of the 1970s. Before that, various actions concerning the mass media had a provisional nature, and were motivated by specific political objectives.
The main purpose of the present work is to trce the evolution of the media policy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany from the moment that state came into being to the beginning of the process of reunification. In the author's opinion, this evolution consisted in a passage from the obvious etatisme and centralism characteristic of Konrad Adenauer's administration to the policy of the 1980s which followed the principles of federalism and decentralization in the course of programming and implementing the state's media policy. As regards the problems that were dealt with, we observe a passage from the policy aimed at preventing, or, at preventing, or, at least, weakening various undesirable tendencies (such as the concentration of the press market in the 1960s and 70s) to a policy focused on popularizing certain new trends so that their positive aspects are made use of (here belongs the introduction of new technologies of communication in the 1980s). This reorientation was connected with transformations concerning the use of instruments of the state's Medienpolitik. Apart from legal regulations, various forms of dialogue with other subjects of media policy and the co-operation with privates firms based on a common economics interest started to be regarded as legitimate instruments.
A chronological presentation of the stages of the development of the federal government's media policy is preceded, in the present work, by an account of the achievements of the German media studies in researching the relations between the zone of politics and that of mass communication. Owing to this the reader may more easily understand the complexities, interrelations, and also the basic notions of media policy. Some space in the present book is also devoted to a presentation of the historical, legal, constitutional, and institutional conditions of the state's Medienpolitik. This is because the federal government had to construct its media policy on the ruins of the centralized media system of the Third Reich, and on the foundations of the federal system in radio and television created by the victorious Allied Powers. Equally important were also the consequences of the political system of the new state in which the legislative powers concerning the press, radio and television were give to the governments of the German Länder. This solution substantially limited the possibilities of the federal government in this respect.
The present work's main thesis, however, is that, in spite of these rather difficult conditions, the federal government became, in the discussed period, the main organizer of the media policy in FRG. It made use, in its actions, of various means and methods the significance and practical value of which goes well beyond the chronological limits of the present book and the political situation specific to the German state.